A further announcement has been made in Ontario regarding the order for five helicopters announced in July for law enforcement work. Two Airbus H135s are intended for Toronto and Ottawa, but it has become clear in a very recent statement that these have not yet been officially ordered. Speaking to the press this week, Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said he had recently been at Airbus Helicopters Canada’s HQ in Fort Erie with Premier Doug Ford. One of their points of inquiry was to ask the question “As soon as the order’s placed, how soon can we get the helicopter?”.
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said the force is anticipating receiving the helicopter in 12-18 months, although he did not make it clear whether that is an “arrive in the country” date ready for completion at Fort Erie, or when the fully-equipped helicopter will first be put into service. The province will also be funding five net new positions to support the new air unit in Toronto.
In the July statement, Ford announced the province would buy the helicopters for five police forces in Ontario, including Toronto, Ottawa, Durham Region, Halton Region, and Peel Region. However, it now turns out that the Ontario Provincial Police will own and operate the H135 helicopters in Ottawa and Toronto only, while the three remaining regions will own and operate the aircrafts themselves. A cost figure of Can$36 million has ballooned to Can$134 million over three years after the province decided to buy the aircraft, instead of leasing them – it is unclear as yet how these figures are made up, and what period they expected to lease the aircraft over.
We have also had confirmation from Durham Police that they will acquire a single turbine helicopter and no final decision has yet been made on the OEM, let alone the model, although they did confirm it would be from Airbus or Bell – hardly a surprise given the presence these two have in Canada. Durham Police currently fly a Bell 206B which they purchased new in 2003. No doubt further details will appear from Durham, Halton and Peel Regions in due course. For completeness, the other Region within Ontario is York, and the York Regional Police currently flies an Airbus H125 which they started operating in March 2023.
Airbus, Airbus Helicopters, Canada, Civil, H135, Law Enforcement, News, Ontario, Ontario Provincial Police
