Category Archives for "Northern Ontario"

Submission to Ontario 2026 Budget Consultations

By Transport Action Ontario | Community Transit , Highways and Bridges , Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News , Northern Ontario , Southwestern Ontario , Urban Transit

Transport Action Ontario (TAO) has provided input into Ontario’s 2026 Budget as part of its consultation process. We limited our comments to public transportation needs. Our seven points are highlighted below:

• Increase Ontario Transit Investment Fund. This fund is intended to support rural intercommunity bus service and is inadequate to meet the demand of our many smaller and rural municipalities.
• Fund completion, publication and execution of the Southwestern Ontario Transportation Plan. This long-delayed plan needs to be finalized for this growing region.
• Introduce provincial banking of discontinued rail corridors, ie “rail bank”. Although Ontario has introduced a Short Line Railway Investment Tax Credit, it has not acted on the equally important issue of railway segments (often owned by short line railways) being discontinued and not preserved as transportation corridors.
• Deep dive into capital costs and procurement model for rapid transit in Ontario. Capital costs have been rising rapidly, threatening our ability to fund and construct additional important transit infrastructure.
• Cancel Highway 413 and the proposed Highway 401 tunnel. A recent report, coauthored by TAO, shows that rapid transit in this part of the GTA would be at least twice as cost-effective than Highway 413 for moving people and goods.
• Fund additions to “de-risk” the Northlander train service. We believe that auxiliary power should be available on each train, and that two sleeper cars should be added to each train set.
• New Revenue tools. Municipalities need new tools, such as a portion of the provincial sales tax or a land transfer tax. The province needs to test road pricing as a proven means of congestion reduction and revenue generation.

Our full submission can be viewed below.

Ontario Short Line Railway Investment Tax Credit

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News , Northern Ontario , Southwestern Ontario

We are pleased to report that the Ontario Short Line Railway Investment Tax Credit has been implemented. Transport Action Ontario has long advocated for such measures. There are currently 11 short lines licensed to operate in Ontario, and they fill an important role in goods movement, strengthening local economies, and potentially hosting passenger rail.

Provincial support for short lines was first introduced at a high level in Budget 2024. Budget 2025 provided a detailed proposal, and the enabling legislation was passed in November, 2025. Amendments to the 2007 Taxation Act (section 97.3) are now in force.

The temporary (3-year) program offers a 50% refundable corporate income tax credit for eligible capital and labour costs related to track maintenance, capped at $8,500 per track-mile annually for expenses incurred between May 15, 2025 and December 31, 2029. The program is expected to cost $23 million over 3 years.

Adding a “Steel Road” to the Gravel Road Corridor for the Ring of Fire

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News , Northern Ontario

Transport Action Ontario has sent a letter to the three First Nations that are leading the environmental assessments (EAs) on construction and operation of a gravel access road to the Ring of Fire. Our letter urged that the EAs include a heavy-haul rail line in the rail corridor, due to the strong business and social case.

Our letter can be viewed below.

Building Canada requires a national rail strategy

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus , Northern Ontario , Southwestern Ontario

Transport Action strongly believes that a good freight and passenger rail network is a major component of a strong and independent Canada. However, with 5 decades of observation and advocacy, we have regretfully seen the opposite – a continuous diminution of Canada’s rail system.

Transport Action Canada and Transport Action Ontario have written Prime Minister Carney summarizing the reasons for this decline, including largely foreign ownership of our rail assets and continued populist actions by government to subsidize personal vehicle use.

Our letter recommended establishing a national strategic rail authority to:

• Identify the necessary rail network, including multi-modal inlands distribution centres
• Work with the industry to jointly develop shared investments that boost both freight and passenger rail service
• Support provincial rail investments
• Decline federal funding for urban highway expansions
• Maximize Canadian industrial benefits
• Maintain transparency on the Alto HSR project and on its impact on VIA Rail
• Encourage First Nation participation

Our letter is attached.

Optimizing the Role of Railways in Building Canada’s Economy

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News , Northern Ontario

Transport Action Ontario has written to the Premiers of Ontario and Alberta expressing our delight that both governments are considering expansion of rail services in Canada for resource development and increased interprovincial trade. Based on our observations from the decades of diminution of rail infrastructure under largely investor-focused, mainly foreign ownership, we provided the Premiers with a number of pragmatic suggestions including:

1. New and expanded infrastructure should be under public ownership.
2. Use crown corporations such as Ontario Northland Transportation Commission to develop the projects.
3. Consider indigenous partnerships.
4. Minimize U.S. capital and supplies.
5. Comparisons with highway alternatives should include long term and externalized costs.
6. Include consideration of passenger rail service and international rail tourism.
7. Public investment on privately-owned rail corridors must be included to increase resiliency and capacity on a mutually beneficial basis.
8. Provinces should “rail bank” all rail infrastructure considered surplus by private operators.

Our letter can be viewed below.

Photo: CN freight train passing Brantford station.