The announcement means the higher 110 km/h speed limit will cover 36 per cent of the 860 kilometers of Ontario’s highway network, according to the Ontario government. Pictured: Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria and Premier Doug Ford. Photo Credit: Prabmeet Sarkaria/X.
The Ontario government has announced plans to increase speed limits on several highways across southern Ontario, including Highway 406 for a stretch of 13 kilometers between Thorold and Welland. The speed limit will be raised from 100 km/h to 110 km/h on July 12.
The news follows a trial period, which began in 2022, of testing six sections of provincial highways across the province with a higher speed limit.
Ontario’s transportation minister, Prabmeet Sarkaria, made the announcement.
“Most of Ontario’s highways were originally designed to safely accommodate speed limits and the data from our changes in 2022 shows they do just that,” said Sarkaria. “These evidence-based increases are a common-sense change to make life more convenient for Ontario drivers while bringing our highway speed limits in line with other Canadian provinces.”
Five other provinces – Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan – have a maximum speed limit of 110 km/h on their major highways. British Columbia’s maximum is 120 km/h.
The announcement means the higher 110 km/h speed limit will cover 36 per cent of the 860 kilometers of Ontario’s highway network, according to the Ontario government.
About a year ago, the Ford government announced six other stretches of highways across Ontario that had their speed limits increased to 110 km/h.
Ontario’s main highways had a speed limit of 70 miles per hour until 1975, when the speed was reduced to present maximums. At the time, Canada was still using the imperial system. Speed limits were not converted over to the metric system until 1977.
Other than the stretch of the 406 from Thorold to Welland, speed limits will be increased on five stretches of Highway 401, two stretches of Highway 403, one stretch on Highway 416 and one stretch on Highway 69.
Major communities other than Thorold and Welland impacted by these changes include Tilbury, Cobourg, Colborne, Belleville, Kingston, Woodstock, Brantford, Hamilton, Ottawa and Sudbury.
The Ford government’s changes led to criticism from at least one opposition party. Kitchener Centre’s Green Party Member of Provincial Parliament, Aislinn Clancy, said the speed limit increase is part of the Ford government’s “sprawl agenda,” linking faster speed limits to the Ford government’s desire to build the new Highway 413.
The Ontario Safety League, an organization that was founded a century ago to promote public safety on Ontario’s roads, backed the Ford government’s move, saying the changes are acceptable under present engineering standards.
The Ford government worked with the Ontario Safety League while piloting speed limit changes.
Provincial political parties other than the Greens did not issue formal statements on the Ford government’s move.
Jay Goldberg is the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. He previously served as a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
