Ontario NDP promises to remove tolls on Hwy. 407 if elected

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles is looking to woo voters with a new promise that she says will help commuters across the Greater Toronto Area save time and money.

At a pre-campaign stop in Brampton on Monday, Stiles pledged that her party would remove tolls on Highway 407 for all drivers if they form government in the upcoming election.

“Drivers here in Brampton and across the GTA are stuck paying the highest tolls in North America thanks to bad deals made by Conservative governments of the past, and defended by 

Ford’s Conservatives today,” Stiles told reporters. “As your next Premier, I will make the 407 toll-free, put money back in your pockets, and get you home to your loved ones faster.”

Ontarians will head to the polls on February 27 and Highway 407 is expected to be a key issue as leaders look for ways to alleviate painstaking traffic congestion.

Earlier this month, Premier Doug Ford suggested that he is open to the idea of buying back the highway, which has been privately operated under a 99-year lease agreement since 1999.

In March 2024, the Conservatives voted down an NDP motion that called for the removal of tolls on Highway 407 for truckers, which Stiles argues would have eased congestion on Highway 401 and saved truckers tens of thousands of dollars.

“Doug Ford has sat on his hands as tolls on the 407 have gone up, afraid to take on the private corporation that makes millions from people just trying to get to work,” Stiles said on Monday. “I will negotiate on the side of the people, get us out of this bad deal, and make the 407 toll-free.”

The Mike Harris government sold Highway 407 in 1999 for $3.1 billion to a consortium that included SNC Lavalin, Quebec’s provincial pension fund, and Spanish company Ferrovial.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 50.01 per cent of 407 ETR, the organization which runs the tolled highway.

The province still owns a 22-kilometre stretch on the highway’s eastern flank and drivers pay a significantly cheaper toll than the private portion of the highway.