Provincial funding for the project will come from the Moving Ontario Forward programme. Last July Canada's federal government agreed to contribute up to $C 1bn to the project through its Public Transport Fund, with the city providing the remaining $C 1bn.

Stage 2 LRT will more than double the length of the 12.5km east-west Confederation Line (also known as Stage 1 LRT), which is due to open in 2018. The 13km western extension from Tunney's Pasture to Bayshore with a branch to Baseline will include 10 stations, while to the east, a 10km extension from Blair to Place d'Orléans will add another four stations to the network.

The third project included in Stage 2 is an 8km five-station southern extension of the diesel-operated Trillium Line from Greenboro to Bowesville in Riverside South.

In addition to these extensions, Ontario's contribution will also support the development of a two-station branch off the Trillium Line to Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport and a further one-station extension of the Confederation Line from Place d'Orléans to Trim Road in Orléans. These two extensions would add a further 6.5km to the network.

Stage 2 was unanimously approved by Ottawa City Council in 2013, and construction is due to begin in 2018. The completion of the project in 2023 will bring 70% of the city's population within 5km of an urban rail station.

the province of Ontario has already committed $C 600m to the $C 2.1bn Confederation Line, which it is funding jointly with Ottawa City Council and the federal government.