Mayor John Tory is welcoming news that the federal government will provide municipalities with nearly $15 billion for public transit, money that he says will “make a significant positive contribution to our economic recovery in the wake of COVID-19.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $14.9 billion in new public-transit funding for municipalities on Wednesday morning. The money will flow over the next eight years; however the bulk of it will not be made available until 2026.
It remains unclear what Toronto’s share of the funding will be but in a statement released following the announcement Tory said that he expects that it will be enough to have a “tremendous impact” on the city’s transit network.
“I am confident that Toronto will receive its fair share of funding from this initiative and that it will make a significant positive contribution to our economic recovery in the wake of COVID-19,” he said. “Our share of this investment will mean transit expansion, transit vehicles and other system upgrades, jobs, and a greener city.”
The new funding is in addition to the $.9 billion that the federal Liberal government has already allocated for new transit infrastructure in Toronto.
In his statement, Tory called the latest commitment a “landmark investment” and said that it is “great news for Toronto and for our transit system.”
“Permanent federal transit funding has now been significantly enhanced,” he said.
The Ford government has previously said that it expects the federal government to cover 40 per cent of the cost of its $28.5 billion GTA transit plan, which includes the Ontario Line, the Scarborough subway extension and the extension of the Yonge subway into Richmond Hill.
