Province breaks ground on elevated stretch of Ontario Line, with possible opening date of ‘early 2030s’

Mayor Chow, Premier Ford, and the Metrolinx CEO gathered on Wednesday to talk about the Ontario Line that is set to open by the 'early 2030s.'

The Ontario Line is on track to be completed in the “early 2030s” but Metrolinx won’t commit to a target opening date for the subway line amid lessons learned from the repeated delays to the Eglinton Crosstown, CEO Michael Lindsay says.

Lindsay made the comment to reporters at a news conference held to celebrate the groundbreaking for the “elevated guideway and four new stations” for the Ontario Line, on Wednesday.

“One of the lessons we learned from the Eglinton Crosstown was increasingly speaking in terms of ranges as to when service is going to arrive on these type of projects,” Lindsay explained. “What we just lived through on Eglinton and Finch shows us that when civil infrastructure is complete on a complex transit project like this we still need to test and commission the system to make sure it works.”

The Eglinton Crosstown was initially supposed to be completed in 2020 but faced years of delays and cost overruns and only opened to the public for the first time earlier this month.

The Ontario Line was slated to be competed “as early as 2027″ when it was first announced in 2020 but the estimated completion date was later adjusted to 2031.

Lindsay said Wednesday that while he anticipates that construction will be complete “along the same timeline,” he must make allowances for the fact that there will have to be a period of robust testing of the system before he can “confidently confirm” when the light might be operational.

“Consistent with the lessons learned on the Eglinton Crosstown we are trying right now to think about how we frontload systems integration considerations to reduce that testing and commissioning time,” he said.

The groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday marks a significant milestone in pushing forward a three-kilometre raised stretch of the Ontario Line connecting Don Valley, Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park — a segment the province says “will bring 30,500 people within walking distance” of rapid transit while cutting commute times across Toronto.

Crews have begun work on the elevated guideway, which will carry trains up to 14 metres above street level from the west end of Overlea Boulevard in Thorncliffe Park north to Don Valley Station at Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue East. Ground has also been broken on Cosburn Station.

The province says the elevated segment will also improve access to 14,800 jobs.

Once complete, the 15.6-kilometre line will run from Exhibition Place through downtown and connect to Line 5 Eglinton at Don Mills Road. With nearly 390,000 daily boardings, the government says travel times from Thorncliffe Park to downtown Toronto will drop from 40 minutes to 25 minutes, while trips from Pape and Danforth to Queen and University will be cut roughly in half from 25 minutes to 12.

The province also says the project could reduce rush-hour crowding at the Bloor-Yonge Station by up to 22 per cent, or about 14,000 fewer riders.

An effort to fight gridlock

Premier Doug Ford framed the project as part of a broader $70-billion transit expansion plan aimed at easing gridlock and supporting jobs amid economic uncertainty.

“Our government’s historic $70 billion investment in public transit across the province is helping protect workers in the face of tariffs and economic uncertainty and fight gridlock by getting transit users where they need to go faster,” Ford said in a statement.

‘Early 2030s’ opening date

Meanwhile, Lindsay, said construction is now underway at all Ontario Line stations south of Bloor-Danforth, with work expanding north.

“With work underway at all Ontario Line stations south of Bloor-Danforth, and iconic bridges being built over the Don River, we are delighted to begin construction of the four northern stations which will put more than 40,000 residents within walking distance of this incredible project.”

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said the new line will help connect communities and shorten commutes, while pledging to keep transit affordable.

“The Ontario Line will connect people and communities across our city, helping hundreds of thousands of Torontonians get where they need to go faster and more reliably,” Chow said.

The federal government is contributing more than $4 billion toward construction, part of a joint funding arrangement between Queen’s Park and Ottawa.