The Board of Trade approached the Department of Transport for financial assistance.
The Department of Transport required an airport at Fort St. John as part of the new airway planned between Edmonton
and Whitehorse. It purchased a site and constructed a landing strip 4,000 ft (1,219 meters by 122 meters) which was
completed in the spring of 1940. The Grand haven General Aviation Airstrip occupies this original site.
When the United States entered the war, the Edmonton to Whitehorse route took on a greater significance and
was developed into the Northwest Staging Route to Alaska. A large construction program was undertaken in 1942
to connect the existing airfields with the Alaska Highway and to provide additional emergency fields and navigation
aids between Edmonton and Northway, Alaska. In 1943,American contractors assumed responsibility for the completion
of the work at a number of airports, including Fort St. John.
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The USAF constructed a completely new facility at
a location east of the community, which today remains as the location of the North Peace Regional Airport.
The original airport was closed down in the winter of 1943-44. At the end of the war, Canada bought all the
facilities that were constructed by the US. The North Peace Regional Airport was taken over by the Department
of Transport on April 10, 1951.
Under the National Airports Policy, announced by Transport Canada in 1994, the North Peace Regional
Airport became eligible for ownership by local interests. |
In January of 1997 the North Peace Airport Society signed documents transferring ownership from Transport
Canada to the Society. As of March 18, 1997, the airport is operated by North Peace Airport Services Ltd.,
a wholly owned subsidiary of Vancouver Airport Services.
The North Peace Airport Society introduced an Airport Improvement Fee September 01, 1998 to raise
funds for the renovation and construction of the Air Terminal Building.
The new terminal building was completed in the fall of 2005. |
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