City and province sign agreement to build "largest subway expansion in Canadian history"

Toronto is about to get a helping hand from the province to upgrade its public transit.

The City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario signed the preliminary Toronto-Ontario Transit Partnership Agreement this morning, to help expand and improve Toronto’s public transit system.

The agreement will address the multi-billion dollar investment in transit initiatives over the next 20 years.

“People want us to get on with building new transit in Toronto and upgrading our existing transit system,” Mayor John Tory said in a statement. “The signing of the preliminary Toronto-Ontario Transit Partnership Agreement is an important step in getting this work done and ensuring both governments are working in full cooperation.”

Specifically, the plan will modernize and upgrade the TTC, work on the Bloor-Yonge Capacity Enhancement Project and the GO Expansion/SmartTrack project.

The agreement will also focus on Ontario’s four priority transit projects, which include the Ontario Line, Line 2 East Expansion — a three-stop expansion into Scarborough — Yonge North Subway Extension and Eglinton Crosstown West Extension.

“Premier Ford and the City of Toronto both share a commitment and responsibility to build transit infrastructure quickly and efficiently to keep people moving, to drive business investment and job creation, and to improve the environment,” Caroline Mulroney, the Minister of Transportation said in a statement.

“Through this partnership, we are making historic investments in Ontario’s transportation network with the new Ontario Line and three subway extensions — the largest subway expansion in Canadian history.”

Toronto’s 2020 budget is heading to city council for final approval next week, which according to Tory, includes the most expansive investment to upgrade the existing transit system in the history of Toronto.

“This almost $30 billion transit expansion is coupled with the City of Toronto’s investment of more than $6 billion into our existing transit system for new subways, new subway signal systems, new buses, new streetcars, and station upgrades,” Tory said.