Province to take control of two Toronto highways in ‘new deal’ involving Ontario Place

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province will upload two Toronto highways in order to help alleviate the city’s growing financial pressures.

The two levels of government have been working on a so-called “new deal” for the city, which is facing a $1.5-billion deficit, and had agreed to avoid new taxes and cuts to frontline services.

Ford says the two highways – the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway – will never be tolled by the province.

The premier says the province will give Toronto up to $1.2 billion over the next three years to be used for more homeless shelters and more police officers in the transit system.

In return, the city will approve the province’s plans to redevelop Ontario Place.

As part of this deal, the city accepts that the province has the authority to advance project approvals for Ontario Place and intends to do so imminently, according to a press release from the Province of Ontario.

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The province has also agreed to explore relocating the parking structure to the Exhibition Place grounds to improve public access to the shoreline and to discuss partnership opportunities with the city for maintaining public, community-oriented science programming at the legacy Ontario Science Centre.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says the deal will help the city address its financial issues and allow it to spend more money on building affordable housing and transit that would otherwise be spent on repairing highways.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2023.

The Canadian Press