Premier Doug Ford has called on the federal government to provide at least 40 percent of the funding required to build four major subway projects in the Greater Toronto Area.

At an announcement on March 10, the Premier, alongside Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney and Associate Transportation Minister Kinga Surma, invited the federal government to help fund the more than $28 billion the province has committed to the new Ontario Line; a three-stop Scarborough Subway Extension; the Yonge North Subway Extension; and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension.

"Our government has a plan to build Ontario together and has joined a coalition of municipal partners to build some of the most ambitious, historic and nationally significant projects in the country," said Ford. "We have made tremendous progress in the past working with our federal partners, and we can do it again with our rapid transit plan, which includes four subways. I firmly believe these projects will not only move Ontario forward, but will move the entire country forward."

Notable by omission in the Premier’s announcement was any mention of a mass transit project in downtown Hamilton. The federal government has already indicated that it will fund 40 percent of that project, but Ford indicated he is not about to make a similar ask.

The provincial government cancelled the proposed Hamilton LRT project in December when it announced that the project was estimated to have gone well over budget. The province had committed to funding the 14-kilometre project to the tune of $1 billion, but Mulroney suggested in December that cost would be closer to $5.5 billion.

The Transportation Minister appointed a five-member task force to look into alternative ways to finance transit in Hamilton using the $1 billion allocated for LRT. That group is due to report back on March 16. Her office indicated that it is premature to ask the federal government for money until it receives that report.

The invitation to the federal government to fund the GTA transit projects comes as the Ontario government announced the first phase of construction and tunneling work for two of the four priority projects: the Scarborough Subway Extension and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension. The latter may also include a connection to Pearson International Airport.

The two requests for qualifications outline the scope of work to design, build and finance the construction of tunnels for the three-stop Scarborough subway and Eglinton Crosstown West Extension. To expedite work on these projects, tunnelling will begin first, to be followed by separate contracts for the balance of the work on each project.

The approach, says the province, will help the projects get built faster, and at a lower cost to taxpayers.

"We are building a modern, efficient rapid transit system that provides benefits for all transit riders and taxpayers," said Mulroney. "These subway projects in Scarborough and along Eglinton will strengthen our transit network and better connect us as a world-class province, region, and city."

The Scarborough Subway Extension is an extension of neatly eight kilometres to TTC’s Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth), from the existing Kennedy Station northeast to McCowan Road/Sheppard Avenue. The project is expected to come into service by 2029–30.

The Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, meanwhile, is a 9.2-kilometre extension of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT (future TTC Line 5) from the future Mount Dennis station to Renforth Drive, with an expected service date by 2030–31. The extension will run underground, westward from Scarlett Road to Renforth Drive. The province has said it is committed to connecting that extension with Pearson International Airport.

"We've worked diligently to make great strides in building transit, creating a transit plan, establishing a historic Ontario-Toronto Transit Partnership agreement with the city, and introducing legislation to build transit faster", said Surma. "Now it's time to get shovels in the ground and place orders for tunnel boring machines to expand our subway system by more than 50 percent."