Feds reject Steinbach Airport push for U.S. air traffic

Federal border officials have rejected Steinbach’s request last month to turn its airport into a port of entry and accept aircraft directly flying from the United States.

The Canada Border Services Agency denied the city’s application on April 27 to get the designation, according to Steinbach officials. The nearest aircraft ports of entry to Steinbach are in Winkler and Winnipeg.

The port of entry application was under the federal CANPASS program, which allows low-risk, pre-aproved travellers from the U.S. to land in Canada at designated airports.

Steinbach administration filed the application in June 2025 on behalf of the Steinbach Flying Club, which operates the airport day-to-day, said Adam Thiessen, the city’s corporate services manager. The application was the first time the airport sought the designation.

“It (the port of entry designation) just would help with folks visiting and smaller charter flights, making it a little more flexible for operations there for people that want to fly directly here,” he said.

When the denial was issued, Thiessen said the Canada Border Services Agency justified the decision because no customs staff were available to come to Steinbach, and there were no offices close enough to the city.

He pointed to the Winkler airport, which is an official port of entry and a smaller city than Steinbach, as reason why the city and flying club thought Steinbach had a “strong advantage” for getting the designation.

Winkler’s population was 15,335 people while Steinbach’s was 17,806 people in 2021, according to Statistics Canada census data.

Thiessen said the applications often get denied on the first attempt. There are discussions of putting in another application, but no progress has been made yet, he said.

Bardia Salimkhani, president of the Steinbach Flying Club, said he was “very disappointed” when the application was denied.

“Given how popular both Steinbach airports are, and how much traffic we get through Steinbach, it’s a logical thing to do, but yeah, I don’t know the whole reasoning behind it,” he said.

Salimkhani couldn’t provide numbers on air traffic at the airport.

He said the previous excuse for not granting the designation to Steinbach’s airport was the city’s proximity to Winnipeg and the former airport in the Rural Municipality of Piney.

In December 2024, the Piney-Pinecreek Border Airport, which straddled the 49th parallel, shut down after Piney and the Minnesota state government couldn’t reach an agreement over who would foot the required $2.5-million upgrade costs. The jointly-owned airport operated since the 1950s and was the only port of entry in the Southeast prior to closing.

To fly from the U.S. and land in Steinbach, pilots must travel to Winkler or Winnipeg Richardson International Airport to get cleared by customs officials before flying back to Steinbach, Salimkhani said. It also isn’t a guarantee to getting through customs in Winnipeg because it has more frequent flights with larger jets taking priority over smaller aircraft, he said. If Steinbach was an approved port of entry, it would relieve the pressure on Winnipeg-based customs officers, Salimkhani said.

Not having a port of entry in Steinbach makes flying from the U.S. an “annoying” process, said Harv Penner, founder of flight school Harv’s Air. He also pushed for the airport to get the designation and echoed Salimkhani’s disappointment.

When flights come from American locations such as Minneapolis, Minn. and are routed to Winnipeg for customs checks, pilots make a phone call from the plane to officials to receive a clearance number and then fly to Steinbach, Penner said.

Customs officials can send an agent to the plane to inspect at their discretion, he said.

“When they closed the Piney airport, then we thought, ‘Well, this will be easy. We’re easily within an hour drive from the Tolstoi (land border crossing), and like 45 minutes from here to Winnipeg,” he said.

Steinbach Chamber of Commerce president Eugene Warwaruk said getting an official port of entry at the airport would be “huge” for local businesses and tourism because of how close Steinbach is to the border. Making it easier for visitors to land directly in Steinbach could help boost the local economy and grow Steinbach’s profile, he said.

“People are flying and landing here, visiting our local businesses, shopping, spending money, staying overnight, maybe taking in a concert at the Southeast Event Center one day. All of that would grow if we had that port of entry designation,” Warwaruk said.

He said he would support any appeal or effort to file another application.

Mayor Earl Funk learned about the airport’s application denial when speaking with The Carillon.

“In the common sense form, it would be great to be able to land here and be a port of entry,” he said, noting that he wasn’t familiar with the topic to comment further.

The Canada Border Services Agency didn’t respond for comment by deadline.