Canada's federal government has made one of its biggest infrastructure moves in years, pledging to spend nearly $10 billion to accelerate five transit projects in Ontario in a deal with federal, provincial and local officials. The Liberal government has announced that it will pick up 40 per cent of the construction costs for four rail lines in Premier Doug Ford's GTA transit expansion plan and will also provide major support for a new Hamilton rapid transit line. They will also help the TTC buy new streetcars.
The Toronto Sun reported that the four subway projects will include:
- The $4.5 billion 7.8 Km three-stop Scarborough subway extension
- Extend the $3.9 billion Eglinton Crosstown Line 5 project west into Mississauga
- The $4.6 billion North Yonge Line 1 Subway extension into York Region
- The $9 billion Ontario Line subway running between Ontario Place and the Ontario Science Centre
The $12 billion federal investment, of which $10.4 billion is earmarked for Toronto, will also fund an LRT project in Hamilton between McMaster University and Stoney Creek.
"These projects will create good, skilled union and middle-class jobs, and opportunities for businesses across Canada. This is the largest transit infrastructure investment in Canadian history. Anyone in Toronto can tell you the subway is way too busy. This investment will not only deal with that, but it also creates tens of thousands of new jobs, and will help get gridlocked traffic off the road."
Infrastructure Minister | Catherine McKenna
Twenty per cent of Canada's population lives in the Greater Toronto Area and is home to the third largest transit ridership in North America. The city is also finalizing a deal with the feds on funding streetcars and more details about this will be forthcoming.
This announcement came just weeks after the federal government announced a $14.9 billion, eight year investment in major Canadian transit projects.
The Star stated that the four subway projects are expected to cost $26.8 billion to build, plus $1.7 billion for design and planning. The federal government has agreed to contribute up to $10.7 billion for construction, while the province has committed $17 billion.
"This $12 billion in funding means people will get where they need to go, faster - all with tens of thousands fewer cars on the road daily. In addition to combating traffic congestion and helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the transit spending will support jobs at the Alstom streetcar plant in Thunder Bay, Ontario."
Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau
Even though ridership has decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, the new lines will be needed to serve the 11 million people expected to live in the Toronto region by 2051. Early work on the projects is already underway and the province says all four are scheduled to be completed around the end of this decade.
Ford's government intends to spend $1.8 billion extra to build the Eglinton West LRT underground despite there being ample room to construct it at the surface while the $5.5 billion three-stop Scarborough subway extension will take so long to complete residents will be stuck riding buses for at least seven years before it's done.
Ford has been asking Ottawa to pay its fair share since he announced the GTA expansion plan back in April of 2019. Until this week, the federal Liberals had withheld any commitment, claiming the province had not provided enough details of their plans. Ottawa is going to pump about $8.5 billion into the four projects which will cover 40% of their cost, with the remainder to be spent on light rail in the city of Hamilton.
According to Engineering News-Record, Austria-based tunneling contractor Strabag AG leads a design-construction team selected by Infrastructure Ontario in March for the Scarborough project, which also includes Arup Canada Inc. and Brian Isherwood & Associates Ltd.
The Eglinton Crosstown project already is under construction, with the federal money to help fund a western extension along Eglinton Avenue between Scarborough and Mississauga. Transit agency Metrolinx selected, also in March, that the project's design and construction team led by Aecon Infrastructure Management Inc. and Dragados Canada Inc., and including design firms TYPSA Inc., EXP Services Inc., Dr. G. Sauer & Partners Corp. and Pedelta Canada Inc.
The light-rail project in Hamilton still must gain final approval from local officials.
