Ontario premier promises to eliminate tolls from Highway 407 in Durham Region if re-elected

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is promising residents in Durham Region he will permanently remove tolls on the provincially-owned section of Highway 407 if his party is returned to power on February 27.

Ford, speaking to reporters at a campaign stop in Pickering Wednesday, also said Canadians must stay united in the face of threatened tariffs from the U.S. government after President Donald Trump agreed to pause the tariffs 30 days following a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“As long as Donald Trump is president the threat of tariffs will never go away,” Ford said. “This is a game to him and he wants to break Canada.”

“He wants to buy Canada … but Canada is not for sale.”

Ford, flanked by Transport Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria and Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy and the mayors of Pickering, Oshawa and Uxbridge, also told reporters he will permanently cut taxes on gas and diesel and pass legislation to ban congestion pricing on provincial and municipal roadways.

The premier said eliminating tolls of Highway 407 between Brock Road in Pickering and Highway 35/115 in Clarington is a key part of his campaign, calling tolls “absolutely horrible” and declaring that removing the toils from the section of the highway owned by the province will save users $7,200 per year.

The provincial government removed the tolls from highways 412 and 418 in Durham – both roads connect Highway 407 with Highway 401 – after an opposition campaign led by Oshawa NDP MPP Jennifer French.

Ontario NDP leader Marit Styles also supports the elimination of tolls from the eastern portion of Highway 407.