Ontario sells Bombardier Challenger 650 back to Bombardier at original CAD 28.9 million price after public backlash
Why It MattersThe episode shows how quickly government-owned aircraft can become political liabilities, with resale value protected but transaction costs still falling on the public purse.
What happened
The government of Ontario has sold back to Bombardier a used Challenger 650 business jet it had purchased for Premier Doug Ford, recouping the original CAD 28.9 million purchase price but incurring approximately CAD 200,000 in additional costs from the round-trip transaction.
The 2016-model aircraft was announced as acquired on April 17, with Ontario government representatives stating it would be used exclusively for official business, including Ford's travel across the province and to the United States. Ford's office cited safer, more flexible, and more confidential travel as justifications for the purchase.
The acquisition drew immediate criticism. Ontario New Democratic Party leader Marit Stiles labelled the jet a "gravy plane," a reference to Ford's past pledges to cut wasteful public spending. Ontario Liberal Party interim leader John Fraser called the purchase out of touch with reality, while the Canadian Taxpayers Federation argued the premier could use commercial flights instead. Days after the announcement, Ford acknowledged the timing was poor, saying he had heard the public's concerns and that the provincial government was working with Bombardier and other partners to sell the aircraft as quickly as possible.
Industry impact & what to watch
Government purchases of business jets tend to draw scrutiny disproportionate to their cost, because the optics of an executive aircraft collide directly with public spending pledges. This case shows how that scrutiny can move fast enough to unwind a deal within weeks rather than years, with the manufacturer willing to take the aircraft back at the price it sold for.
For Bombardier, the transaction is essentially a wash on the aircraft itself but signals the kind of reputational exposure that can attach to a buyer identity, not just a used-jet resale. For Ontario, the CAD 200,000 gap between what was paid out and recovered is the concrete cost of a reversed political decision, separate from any depreciation the aircraft may have carried.
What remains to be seen is whether Ford's office discloses how the province now plans to handle official travel, and whether the CAD 200,000 figure is the final tally or grows once all transaction costs are accounted for.
