Doug Ford announces when Highway 413 construction will begin

“Highway 413 is going to be a game-changer for the region,” said the premier, who was flanked by union leaders whose members are expect to build the road that goes through Caledon.

“I’m thrilled to announce that construction on this highway will begin in 2025,” he said, noting it would create 3,500 jobs annually during construction such as “heavy equipment operators, drilling and coring contractors, concrete and steel workers, utility contractors, environmental specialists, laboratory technologists and safety inspectors.”

Ford’s comments came after a major hurdle in construction of the highway was cleared two weeks ago, when Queen’s Park and Ottawa agreed to establish “a joint working group in which provincial and federal officials will recommend appropriate measures to minimize environmental impacts in areas of federal environmental jurisdiction.”

That will complement the ongoing provincial environmental assessment process.

While Highway 413 was a cornerstone pledge of the Progressive Conservatives’ successful re-election campaign in 2022 — and Ford’s party won every riding along the proposed route — it remains a contentious project.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles warned the Tories are “spending billions of taxpayers’ money on a project with no end date in sight … a project that also threatens Ontario’s farmlands and gives preferential treatment to insiders.”

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• Dec 31, 1969
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• Dec 31, 1969
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Stiles said to tackle gridlock, Ford should make the privately operated Highway 407 “toll-free for truckers — freeing up space on the 401 to get commuters home to their families faster.”

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said that “just like the Greenbelt scandal, the ineffective $10-billion Highway 413 is designed to benefit one group of people: Doug Ford’s wealthy insiders, Conservative donors and rich land speculators.”

Environmental Defence, which opposes the freeway that would cut through protected lands, pave over thousands of acres of farmland and cut across streams and rivers more than 100 times, agreed “the same pattern is playing out with 413” as it did with the Greenbelt land swap scandal now being investigated by the RCMP.

“The Ontario government is working overtime to convince people that this latest plan to cut into the Greenbelt is a done deal,” said Environmental Defence’s Phil Pothen.

“But Highway 413 will not be built by 2025, or at all, as long as the federal government does its job by denying permits to destroy federally protected species at risk and their habitats,” said Pothen.

Tuesday’s announcement came ahead of byelections Thursday in Milton and Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, ridings that had been held by Tory cabinet ministers who resigned.

While the Tories are confident of holding the London-area riding of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, which had been represented by former labour minister Monte McNaughton, polls suggest Milton, former riding of ex-red tape reduction minister Parm Gill, is a dogfight between the Tories and Liberals.

Ford hailed his hand-picked candidate, Zee Hamid, a one-time Grit activist and former local councillor, and took shots at the Liberal and NDP leaders.

“Bonnie Crombie is against building the 413. She’s on the wrong side of this … Marit Stiles is another one that doesn’t believe in building,” said the premier, who has devoted a lot of energy to the Milton vote.

“We’re fortunate to have a great candidate … like Zee. Milton needs a loud voice down at Queen’s Park and I’m confident that he’s going to be successful on Thursday,” he said.

But Tories privately concede the governing party is in a close contest against Liberal candidate Galen Naidoo Harris.