Canadian LRT media monitoring

The Hazel McCallion Line, formerly the Hurontario LRT, is an 18 km light rail line along Hurontario Street from Port Credit GO Station in Mississauga to the Brampton Gateway Terminal at Steeles Avenue, with 19 stops. Metrolinx now expects construction to finish in spring 2028, with the opening date set after testing. The project cost is estimated at $5.5 billion. Vehicle testing on the line began in August 2026.

The Scarborough Subway Extension extends TTC Line 2 by 7.8 km from Kennedy Station to Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road, with three new underground stations near Lawrence Avenue, Scarborough Centre and Sheppard Avenue. Final station names are pending. The estimated cost is $10.2 billion. TTC documents reported in May 2026 point to a 2033 opening, and Metrolinx has not published a date.

The Scarborough East Rapid Transit Line, formerly the Eglinton East LRT, is a proposed 18.6 km light rail line in eastern Scarborough connecting Kennedy Station to Malvern Town Centre, with a branch to Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road that links with the Scarborough Subway Extension. In April 2026 Toronto City Council made the line its top transit priority and adopted the new name. Design is funded to 30 per cent, and construction funding is not yet in place.

Line 5 Eglinton, built as the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, runs 19 km across Toronto from Kennedy Station to Mount Dennis Station, with 25 stations and stops and more than 10 km underground between Keele Street and Laird Drive. It opened to riders on February 8, 2026. The cost is estimated at $13.1 billion including a 30-year maintenance agreement.

The Eglinton Crosstown West Extension will extend Line 5 Eglinton 9.2 km west from Mount Dennis to Renforth Drive in Mississauga, adding seven stations. The route is mostly underground with an elevated section and will connect with GO Transit, UP Express and MiWay. Tunnelling was completed in August 2026. The federal government is contributing $1.87 billion.

Line 6 Finch West is a light rail line in northwest Toronto with 18 stops along Finch Avenue West, running from Finch West Station to Humber Polytechnic's North Campus. It opened to riders on December 7, 2025. Metrolinx capital reports put the cost at about $3.7 billion including a 30-year maintenance contract.

The Yonge North Subway Extension will extend TTC Line 1 about 8 km north from Finch Station into Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill, with five new stations: Steeles, Clark, Royal Orchard, Bridge and High Tech. Tunnelling work is under way and the stations, rail and systems contract is in procurement. Metrolinx says service will start after the Ontario Line is complete.

The Durham-Scarborough Bus Rapid Transit project is a 36 km BRT line along Highway 2 and Kingston Road connecting Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, Pickering and Scarborough, with dedicated bus lanes and 49 stops. Construction of the first sections is under way in Ajax and Pickering. The Metrolinx business case estimates the full build at $1.17 billion.

The Sheppard Subway Extension would extend TTC Line 4 beyond its current terminal at Don Mills. Metrolinx is studying extensions both east and west, including options that reach Sheppard and McCowan, Scarborough Centre or Sheppard and Morningside. No cost estimate, funding or schedule has been announced.

Stage 2 of ION will extend the Region of Waterloo's light rail line from Fairway Station in Kitchener to downtown Cambridge. Regional Council approved the extension in November 2025 at an early cost estimate of about $3.1 billion, with the south terminal at Ainslie Street in Cambridge. Procurement could begin as early as 2028, pending provincial and federal funding.

The Hamilton LRT will run 14 km from McMaster University to Eastgate Square with 17 stops, separated from regular traffic. The federal and provincial governments are funding the project at up to $3.4 billion. The main civil and utilities contract was awarded in May 2026, starting a design and planning phase of 18 to 24 months, and early works are under way.

Stage 2 expands Ottawa's O-Train network. Line 2, the former Trillium Line, was extended south and the new Line 4 link to the Ottawa airport opened on January 6, 2025. Line 1 is being extended east to Trim and west to Algonquin, with a new Line 3 to Moodie. The Stage 2 budget is now estimated at $5.06 billion.

The Waterfront East LRT extends Toronto's streetcar network from Union Station along Queens Quay East and Cherry Street to the Port Lands and the new communities on Ookwemin Minising (formerly Villiers Island). The $3 billion project was fully funded in March 2026, with the federal government, the Province and the City each contributing about $1 billion. Early works begin in 2026.

The O-Train East extension carries Line 1 12.5 km from Blair to Trim, with five new stations: Montréal, Jeanne d'Arc, Convent Glen, Place d'Orléans and Trim. Construction reached substantial completion in March 2026. OC Transpo planned trial running from October 2026 and has not committed to an opening date, with November 2026 the earliest possible.

The O-Train West extension is part of Ottawa's Stage 2 project. Line 1 is being extended from Tunney's Pasture to Algonquin, and a new Line 3 will run to Moodie, adding 11 new stations. Passenger service is now expected in the third quarter of 2027, revised from early 2027. Flooding on Canada Day 2026 damaged parts of the works, and the City expects to update the schedule in early 2027.

GO Expansion is Metrolinx's program to bring faster, more frequent, all-day two-way service to the GO rail network across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, including track and station work on the Barrie line. The original target for full service was 2032. Reporting on internal Metrolinx documents in 2025 and 2026 put full implementation around 2042, with electrification focused on the Lakeshore corridor and a program cost near $27 billion. Metrolinx has not published an updated total.

Alto is a planned high-speed rail network of about 1,000 km between Toronto and Quebec City, with electric trains running at 300 km/h or more. Planned stations are Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montréal, Laval, Trois-Rivières and Québec City. Ottawa to Montréal was confirmed as the first segment in December 2025, with construction expected to start in 2029 or 2030. The preliminary cost estimate is $60 billion to $90 billion, and the federal government has committed $3.9 billion for design and development.

The Gatineau-Ottawa tramway is planned as a 24 km line connecting western Gatineau with downtown Ottawa. Mobilité Infra Québec, which now leads the project, estimated the cost at about $8 billion in June 2026 and said building the full line at once is not viable. A phased approach is likely, beginning with the maintenance centre, downtown Gatineau and the crossing to downtown Ottawa. Final recommendations are due by November 30, 2026.

The Réseau express métropolitain (REM) is an automated light rail network in Greater Montréal. The Deux-Montagnes branch opened on November 17, 2025, and the Anse-à-l'Orme branch to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue opened on May 18, 2026, following the South Shore branch in July 2023. The network now has 23 stations and 64 km in service, and will reach 26 stations and 67 km when the airport branch opens.

The REM airport branch will link the network to Montréal-Trudeau International Airport with two stations, Marie-Curie and YUL-Aéroport-Montréal-Trudeau, on a route of about 3 km, most of it in tunnel. The first train ran on the branch in January 2026 and automatic testing began in August 2026. Opening is planned for the end of 2027.

The Blue Line extension adds five stations and about 6 km of tunnel to the Montréal Metro, east of Saint-Michel into Anjou. The stations are Vertières, Mary-Two-Axe-Earley, Césira-Parisotto, Madeleine-Parent and Anjou. The tunnel boring machine began its 4.6 km drive toward Anjou in May 2026. All five stations are expected to open together in 2031.

TramCité is a 19 km electric tramway in Québec City with 29 stations, connecting Le Gendre, Sainte-Foy, Université Laval, Parliament Hill, Saint-Roch and Charlesbourg. The authorized budget is $7.6 billion. Canada and Québec reached a funding agreement in June 2026, the main contracts have been awarded and preparatory works are under way. Service is planned for 2033. The Government of Québec owns the project and CDPQ Infra manages it.