Ontario Looking to Work with Federal Government to Help Commuters in Toronto

TORONTO – As part of Ontario’s historic $28.5 billion transportation vision, the province is building a new subway line, the Ontario Line, to better connect people and reduce travel times across Toronto. Today, Jeff Yurek, Minister of Transportation, and Monte McNaughton, Minister of Infrastructure, called on the federal government to commit their support for the project.

“People want relief on Toronto’s overcrowded Yonge Line, and they want more connections across the region so that’s what we are delivering,” said Jeff Yurek, Minister of Transportation. “We are confident that when the federal government understands the benefits of the Ontario Line to both Toronto transit users and the thousands of GO Transit users that transfer to the TTC every day, they will join us in helping commuters in Toronto.”

The Ontario Line will deliver real relief for transit users across the entire subway network by creating relief on the Yonge Line that will enable the Yonge North Subway Extension into Markham and Richmond Hill. It will better connect people and reduce travel times across Toronto with a critical east-west and north-south travel route from the Ontario Science Centre all the way to Ontario Place.

The Province nominated the Ontario Line for federal funding in May 2019 and is looking to work with the federal government through the summer to secure conditional federal support for the project while work is done on the full business case analysis.

“Our government has proposed a real solution to Canada’s costliest traffic problem,” said McNaughton. “It is a project that benefits commuters inside and outside the GTHA. Today we’re calling on Prime Minister Trudeau to stop playing politics with infrastructure funding. Does he support this project or not?”

The 15-kilometre Ontario Line will be longer and more effective – and open sooner – than the Downtown Relief Line South. With 30 per cent more capacity than the current Yonge Line, and more frequent trains, transit users will have a better, faster and more convenient commute.

The Ontario Line subway will cost an estimated $10.9 billion and could be open by 2027. It builds on the existing plans for the Downtown Relief Line South and will provide convenient connections to other transit and transportation options like GO Transit, streetcars, bus routes and major roads.