Russian cargo plane seized in Toronto could soon be owned by Canada

In June 2023, the federal government officially seized an aircraft that had been sitting on the tarmac at Toronto's Pearson International Airport since February 2022.

The federal government has taken administrative steps to help gain full control over a massive Russian cargo plane parked in Toronto, which Ottawa hopes to use to generate financial support for Ukraine.

“This looks like it’s the government gearing up for its forfeiture of that aircraft,” said William Pellerin, an Ottawa-based trade lawyer with the firm McMillan LLP.

He says he expects the government “to move very quickly on this forfeiture, imminently” by seeking a court order to render the plane property of the Crown.

In June 2023, the federal government officially seized an aircraft that had been sitting on the tarmac at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport since February 2022. The plane hasn’t moved in the intervening 25 months.

The Russian-registered Antonov AN-124 is owned by the firm Volga-Dneper, which Canada has sanctioned. It is one of the largest aircraft in the world, and Ottawa fears Russia could use it to deliver military supplies in its invasion of Ukraine.

In June 2023, Ottawa issued a formal cabinet order to seize the plane, ahead of a formal court process to have it forfeited to the Crown. At that point, Moscow warned that relations with Canada were “on the verge of being severed.”

Months later, Ottawa has effectively retracted its original cabinet order and revised it, to apply to foreign subsidiaries of the Volga-Dneper company. That includes sanctioning corporate subsidiaries based in Ireland and the Netherlands, as well as individuals the Canadian government suspects of “ownership interests” in the airplane.

The changes appear in an order-in-council as well as a formal gazette notice, both of which were dated Feb. 14.