Backgrounder: A Capital Plan for Building Ontario

The government’s capital plan is one of the most ambitious in the province’s history, with planned investments over the next 10 years totalling $158.8 billion, including $20.0 billion in 2022–23. This plan is getting shovels in the ground to build highways, hospitals and other critical assets, laying the foundation for a stronger Ontario.

Key highlights in the capital plan include:

Highways

$25.1 billion over 10 years to support the planning and/or construction of highway expansion and rehabilitation projects across the province, including projects such as:

• Highway 413, a new 400-series highway and transit corridor across Halton, Peel and York regions to support the movement of goods and save drivers up to 30 minutes on their commute, as well as bring relief to the most congested corridor in North America.
• The Bradford Bypass, a new four-lane freeway connecting Highway 400 and Highway 404 in Simcoe County and York Region that is expected to ease gridlock on Highway 400 and local roads, and save commuters up to 35 minutes per trip as compared to existing routes along local roads.
• The QEW Garden City Skyway rehabilitation project, which will include a new twin bridge over the Welland Canal connecting St. Catharines to Niagara-on-the-Lake. This work will keep traffic moving on this strategic trade and economic corridor that links international border crossings with the Greater Golden Horseshoe.
• Early works in Oshawa and Port Hope, as the first step to enable future widening of Highway 401 to relieve congestion starting at Brock Road in Pickering and through Eastern Ontario.
• Continuing the next phase of construction for the new Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph, which will provide relief to the gridlocked Highway 401 and connect the fast-growing urban centres of Kitchener, Waterloo and Guelph.
• Widening of Highway 17 from Arnprior to Renfrew to four lanes, which will increase capacity as well as enhance road safety for travellers by separating opposing traffic and providing additional passing opportunities.
• The Timmins Connecting Link to reconstruct an approximately 21.4-kilometre stretch of Highway 101, which is one of the longest connecting links in Ontario and used by 25,000 vehicles per day.

Transit

$61.6 billion over 10 years for public transit, including:

• Breaking ground on the Ontario Line, which will provide rapid transit between Exhibition/Ontario Place and the Ontario Science Centre, connecting more than 40 other transit routes, including GO train lines, existing Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway and streetcar lines, and the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit line.
• The Bowmanville GO Rail Extension, which will expand GO Transit rail services from Oshawa into Bowmanville on the Lakeshore East corridor and help reduce gridlock.
• The London GO Rail Service, which will provide weekday GO train trips between London and Union Station in Toronto.
• Planning and design work for a connection of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension to Toronto Pearson International Airport, to establish connectivity of the line to the airport and one of Ontario’s largest economic and employment zones.
• Advancing planning work for the Sheppard Subway Extension that will connect the existing terminus at Don Mills Station (TTC’s Line 4) with the future Scarborough Subway Extension, delivering smarter, better and faster transit.
• Transforming the GO Transit network into a modern, reliable and fully integrated rapid transit network that will cut down commute times across the province by steadily increasing service with faster trains, more stations and seamless connections.
• $75 million to bring passenger rail service back to Northeastern Ontario to restore a key transportation option between Timmins and Toronto, helping to connect Northern Ontario as the government invests in unlocking the full economic potential of northern industries, resources and minerals.

Health

More than $40 billion over the next 10 years in hospital infrastructure, including about $27 billion in capital grants. This is $10 billion more for hospitals and health care centre infrastructure than the commitment in the 2021 Budget. These investments will increase capacity in hospitals, build new health care facilities, and renew existing hospitals and community health centres. Significant new investments are being made to support major hospital projects currently under construction or in various stages of planning to increase capacity, which include:

• Transformation of the existing site and urgent care centre into a new 24/7 inpatient care hospital at Peel Memorial, in partnership with William Osler Health System. This will enable future development of an emergency department and meet the growth needs of one of Ontario’s fastest growing communities.
• Support for the redevelopment of the existing hospital and regional trauma centre on a new site for the Ottawa Hospital – Civic Campus to expand access to programs and services as well as meet bed capacity needs.
• Support for a new state-of-the-art acute care hospital in Windsor and Essex County to add more hospital beds and expand services in the region.
• Funding for the redevelopment of acute care hospitals in Huntsville and Bracebridge to improve community services and access to diagnostic imaging.
• Funding for the planning of the Grand River Hospital and St. Mary’s General Hospital Joint Redevelopment Project to construct a new joint acute care facility and expand to existing facilities in the Kitchener-Waterloo region.
• Support to expand the cardiovascular surgery program at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre to address surgical wait times and improve access to lifesaving care.
• Funding to support the single largest hospital infrastructure investment through the Trillium Health Partners – Broader Redevelopment project to build a new, state-of-the-art Mississauga Hospital and expand the Queensway Health Centre.
• Continued support for the construction of a new, modern hospital facility on the existing Uxbridge site at the Oak Valley Health – Uxbridge Hospital to replace the current aged building, and enable the expansion of specialized outpatient clinics as well as the creation of a community health hub with long-term care services.
• Support for the Stevenson Memorial Hospital redevelopment to modernize facilities, support service delivery and respond to future population growth in Simcoe County.
• Construction of new diagnostic imaging, laboratory and emergency departments at the Wallaceburg Sydenham Hospital, part of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, to modernize service delivery.
• Expansion of the Scarborough Health Network – Birchmount site with a new inpatient tower and an expanded emergency department to reduce wait times, improve patient flow and update aging infrastructure.
• Building four new long‐term care homes in Mississauga, Ajax and Toronto under the Long‐Term Care Accelerated Build Pilot. On February 1, 2022, the Lakeridge Gardens long-term care home in Ajax was completed after just 13 months. Construction remains underway for the homes in Mississauga and Toronto.

Broadband

• Nearly $4 billion beginning in 2019–20 to support the government’s commitment to provide high-speed internet access to every community in Ontario by the end of 2025.

Additional Projects

• Almost $6 billion in the Postsecondary Education sector, including over $2 billion in capital grants over the next 10 years, to help colleges, universities and Indigenous Institutes modernize classrooms by upgrading technology, carrying out critical repairs and improving environmental sustainability.
• Investing $21 billion, including about $14 billion in capital grants over the next 10 years, to support the renewal and expansion of school infrastructure and child care projects, including the new Seaton Public and Catholic elementary schools in Pickering and child care spaces as part of the St. Louis School in Keewatin.