Emergency exercise tests first responders, others at Toronto Pearson Airport

Some travellers using Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga on Saturday will likely notice teams of first responders and emergency vehicles swinging into action — but it won’t be cause for alarm.

Fire trucks racing to a prepared “disaster scene,” police securing the area and paramedics working to save lives that aren’t really in danger are all potentially part of the lineup as Canada’s biggest and busiest airport conducts its annual full-scale emergency exercise.

Some 300 participants — first responders, airline workers, government agency employees and airport teams — are involved in this year’s event, said Pearson spokesperson Sean Davidson.

“These exercises are designed to test response capabilities, strengthen coordination and support continuous improvement across the airport,” he said in a short video posted to social media on Friday (see below).

Exercises ongoing for more than 30 years

Davidson added Pearson has been conducting similar large-scale exercises each year for more than three decades. The sessions are mandated by Transport Canada “to help ensure airports are prepared to respond to emergency situations,” he noted.

The Pearson spokesperson said the full-scale emergency exercises “are an important way for us to continuously strengthen our coordinated response to real-world situations.”

Travellers making their way through Pearson on Saturday won’t see any impact on normal airport operations, Davidson added, though they may notice “an increased presence of first responders and emergency vehicles in the area while the exercise is ongoing.”

Toronto Pearson is conducting its annual full-scale emergency exercise this Saturday.

Spokesperson Sean Davidson has more information about the exercise, why it's important and what passengers travelling through the airport this weekend can expect. pic.twitter.com/Bpq7XtlFo0

— Toronto Pearson (@TorontoPearson) June 5, 2026

Pearson officials have said in recent years the training exercise, conducted annually since 1991, “is a critical component of Toronto Pearson’s emergency preparedness efforts.”

The yearly sessions are part of Pearson’s Operational Continuity and Emergency Management Program.

“This critical training tests our procedures for responding to emergency and security incidents. Through these exercises, Toronto Pearson maintains readiness for emergency situations while meeting regulatory requirements,” airport officials said in an earlier news release.

Whatever the mock emergency — whether an aircraft hijacking, a large plane that’s skidded off the runway and crashed or an incoming jet that’s ill-equipped to land for whatever reason — the several hundred people taking part treat it just like the real thing, airport officials said earlier.

Emergency exercises are realistic 

And the exercise can also appear quite real to Pearson travellers and others going about their business at and near the airport.

Airport officials said in advance of previous emergency exercise sessions that “throughout the exercise, passengers and people in the airport area can expect to see volunteers, emergency vehicles, airport equipment and personnel on airport approach roads, in Terminal 1 and 3 and airside. Theatrical effects may be visible and audible.”

Participants in the annual exercise include airport employees, airline representatives and responders from organizations including Transport Canada, Peel Regional Police, Peel Regional Paramedic Services, the Canadian Air Transport Security Agency, NAV Canada and the Fire and Emergency Services Training Institute.

The latter, known in airport circles as FESTI, is a private firefighting college located on Courtneypark Drive East in Mississauga, just steps from Pearson.

Pearson has also dealt with real emergencies

FESTI is also part of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority’s fire department. The emergency training organization has three fire stations and its own fire chief.

On Feb. 17, 2025, Pearson and first responders dealt with a real emergency when a Delta Air Lines aircraft inbound from Minneapolis crash landed at the airport. Nobody on board the plane was killed.

Just over two decades ago, on Aug. 2, 2005, Air France Flight 358 landed at Pearson in heavy rain and, unable to stop in time, overshot the runway and crashed into the Etobicoke Creek ravine.

Miraculously, emergency responders and others said at the time, all 309 passengers and crew aboard the Airbus lived to tell the story of the near-disastrous afternoon landing.