Highway 413 supported by majority of Ontarians, Labourers’ poll finds
In the early stages of the provincial election, the decision to build Highway 413 is becoming a political hot potato.
On May 3, the various candidates squared off against one another on the issue, with Doug Ford maintaining construction of the highway was necessary, while his opponents argued the opposite. Liberal leader Steven Del Duca has gone so far as to say his party would scrap the project if elected, and divert any funding allocated to the project to construction of schools across the province.
Meanwhile, public opinion research conducted for the Ontario Provincial District Council of the Labourers International Union of North America (LiUNA OPDC) suggests that more than half of Ontarians favour the project.
The research poll, conducted by Sussex Strategy Group shows that 54 percent of Ontarians across the province support the project. Support grows to 57 percent in the GTA. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they opposed the work.
“Simply put, Highway 413 is popular – and the poll shows it,” said Joseph Mancinelli, LiUNA International Vice President and Regional Manager of Central and Eastern Canada. “A growing region requires reliable infrastructure. Given the many benefits of the project, including creating thousands of job opportunities and building a competitive, prosperous province, we are not shocked to see strong support outlined in the study’s findings.”
Highway 413 will run 59 kilometres connecting Highway 400 in Vaughan with highways 407 and 401, linking with Highways 427 and 410 along the way. The province expects it will carry more than 300,000 commuters every day.
The Ford government has touted the project and its benefits, including reduced commute times. It also says the transit corridor will complement the significant investments being made by the government in public transit to create a multi-modal transportation network capable of handling the region’s increased population.
The LiUNA poll welcome news to the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO), which also supports the project.
In November 2021, the group released its Jobs and Economic Impact of the GTA West Corridor report. The report listed a number of benefits to building Highway 413, including as many as 8,000 jobs created annually in construction and other industries over a five-year construction period, the creation of up to $2.3 billion of earnings for workers in Ontario throughout construction, and an expected reduction in congestion in the GTA, which is generally valued at $11 billion.
“The GTA West Corridor is a transformational project for the economic success of the province, ensuring a reliable transportation corridor to help move people and goods across this fast-growing region of Ontario,” said RCCAO executive director Nadia Todorova at the time of the report’s release. “Constructing Highway 413 will generate much-needed jobs while improving the long-term economic competitiveness of our province.”