York Regional Council announced on March 28 that it has signed an agreement with the Ontario Government to fund and build the estimated $5.6 billion Yonge North Subway Extension.

The agreement is the latest step in a process that will see construction of the 7.4-kilometre line that will extend north on Yonge Street in Toronto and add six stops from Finch Station to Highway 7 in Richmond Hill.

The project was announced by the provincial government in April 2019 as part of a $28.5-billion bundle of what it called four priority projects in Ontario’s transit network. The other projects are the Ontario Line, the Scarborough Subway Extension and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension with a planned connection to Pearson airport.

The preliminary agreement between York Region and the province creates a framework for the overall delivery of the project, including roles and responsibilities for funding, planning, delivering, operating and maintaining the extension.

“We are one step closer to delivering on our plan for more rapid, reliable and seamlessly-connected transit in the GTA,” said Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney in a tweet. “Our preliminary agreement with York Region will help significantly expand the subway network with the delivery of the Yonge North Subway Extension.”

What is not yet clear is how the project will be funded. The region would like to see the federal government contribute 40 percent of the funding.

“The Yonge North Subway Extension remains regional council’s top transportation priority and we are pleased to take additional steps in partnership with the Province of Ontario to move this project forward,” said York Region Chairman and CEO Wayne Emmerson. “A project of this magnitude has far-reaching benefits for local jobs, the economy, environment and travelers. However, we require sustained support from all levels of government, including a 40-percent funding commitment from the Government of Canada.”

Meanwhile, Premier Doug Ford says that if the federal government will not provide funding, the province will finance the project itself. When asked about the possibility of postponing this, and the other three major GTA transit projects due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact on the province, Ford was adamant.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “Infrastructure is critical and there’s no better way to get people back – you go back to the Depression – it’s infrastructure.”

“We need to continue building these lines for the next 50 years, we just can’t stop right now. We’re building these four lines because we people to get moving, we need traffic congestion to slow down and people to take rapid transit.”

Construction of the project is expected to create 60,000 jobs, and remove more than 3,300 busses from downtown streets. Contracts for the work are expected to be announced this spring.