THE Canadian and Ontario governments and the City of Toronto have reached an agreement to invest $26.8bn ($US 22.1bn) in four shovel-ready public transit projects in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), prioritised by the province, the City of Toronto and York Region.

The agreement was announced on May 11 by several politicians including Ms Catherine McKenna, federal minister of infrastructure and communities, Ms Caroline Mulroney, Ontario’s minister of transportation, and Mr John Tory, mayor of Toronto, following lengthy negotiations.

The four projects comprise:

  • a 7.8km metro extension to the Bloor-Danforth Line from Kennedy via Lawrence Avenue East, and Scarborough Centre to Sheppard Avenue East, to replace the Scarborough light metro line, which will reach the end of its useful life in 2023 - $C 5.5bn
  • a 9.2km extension to the 19km Eglinton Crosstown light rail line, currently under construction between Kennedy and Mount Dennis, west to Renforth Gateway in Mississauga - $C 4.7bn
  • the new 15.6km Ontario Line metro from Exhibition Place in the west through the city centre to Ontario Science Centre in the northeast - $C 10.9bn, and 
  • Yonge North 8km metro extension from Finch via Vaughan and Markham to Richmond Hill - $C 5.6bn.
The approach to Science Park underground station on the Eglinton Crosstown light rail line.

The federal government is contributing 40% of the funding for each project, up to a total of $C 10.4bn. However, federal funding for the Yonge North extension is conditional on Treasury Board approval.