This map illustrates the Ontario government’s vision for transit in Toronto and area. Note that the map indicates a plan to extend the TTC’s Line 4 Sheppard further eastward, a project which Ontario has not yet formally announced. Image: Province of Ontario

Friday, February 14, the Government of Ontario and the City of Toronto formally signed the preliminary Toronto - Ontario Transit Partnership Agreement to fund and build rapid transit projects in Toronto.

The agreement formalizes a series of terms which City Council approved Tuesday, October 29, 2019. According to an Ontario news release, it’s “the next step towards building the largest subway expansion in Canadian history.” It relates to multi-billion dollar investment in transit initiatives over the next twenty years and commits both governments to working together to expand transit in Toronto.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Province will assume sole responsibility for planning, designing and building four priority transit projects:

• building the Ontario Line between Exhibition GO Station and the future Science Centre Station on the Eglinton - Crosstown light rail transit line for a cost of $10.8 billion. (This rapid-transit project replaces the City plans for the Relief Line subway). The line will operate with smaller cars than traditional Toronto subways, but with more frequent service. It also includes long segments of above-ground rail and tunnels. For part of the line, trains would operate beside GO Transit’s Lakeshore East and Stouffville rail services.
• extending the TTC’s Line 2 Bloor - Danforth subway further into Scarborough with three new stations for $5.5 billion. (The City proposed just one stop);
• extending the Yonge branch of the Line 1 Yonge - University subway into York Region for $5.6 billion; and
• extending the Crosstown LRT further westward along Eglinton Avenue to Renforth Station on the Mississauga Transitway (and, eventually, to a future transit hub at Toronto Pearson International Airport) for $4.7 billion.

Under the plan, the City is reallocating its share of the funding for these projects to upgrade its current transit infrastructure or using the money to support other projects. The proposal also redistributes nearly $3.8 billion in federal infrastructure funding that Toronto has already received. A City staff report indicates $660 million of the funds would support the Line 2 project, while City will also provide $3.16 billion worth of federal dollars to the Ontario Line.

Ontario will also continue to advance the Bloor - Yonge Capacity Enhancement Project and the SmartTrack Stations Program through the Government of Canada’s Public Transit Infrastructure Fund and also contribute 33 percent of the total capital costs.

Chris Murray, Toronto’s City Manager, Michael Lindsay, the Province’s Special Advisor to Cabinet - Transit Upload and Ontario Deputy Minister of Transportation, Shelley Tapp, signed the agreement on behalf of each of the governments.

For a longer version of this post, visit UrbanToronto.ca.