Speed limits will increase to 110 kilometres per hour on several stretches of Ontario highways beginning this summer, the province has announced.
Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria told reporters the province is raising the speed limit from 100 kilometres per hour to 110 kilometres per hour on an additional 938 kilometres of provincial highways.
The incremental rollout begins on June 26 on sections of Highway 401 and Highway 416 in eastern Ontario, Sarkaria said at a June 24 press conference in King City, Ont. Other sections of Highway 401, 402, 403, 416, 417 and Queen Elizabeth Way will change by Sept. 30.
“This work is critical to improve travel times for families, commuters, and workers and will benefit millions of drivers,” Sarkaria said. “And once in effect, nearly 89 percent of our provincial highway network will have the posted speed limit of 110 kilometres per hour, up from 43 percent today.”
Nearly 89 percent of Ontario’s highways will have an increased speed limit by October, Premier Doug Ford said in a June 24 social media post. The adjustment corresponds to the intended design speed of the highways, he added.
“We’re increasing the speed limits wherever it can be done safely,” he said in a video with Sarkaria that was filmed on the side of Highway 401.
Sarkaria said the changes will allow motorists to save 20 minutes on their drive from Sarnia to Toronto and nearly 30 minutes when travelling from Toronto to Ottawa.
Ford first announced his government was looking into raising more speed limits in the fall of 2024. The study followed the implementation of 10 kilometre per hour increases over hundreds of kilometres in 2022.
Sarkaria told reporters fatalities have not increased in any section where the speed limit has increased.
With the additional 938 kilometres, nearly 1,800 kilometres of provincial highways will have a 110 kilometre per hour speed.
The change will not increase the threshold for imposing stunt driving charges, however. The province said a driver will still face a stunt driving charge if they exceed the posted speed limit on highways by 50 kilometres per hour or more.
Roads Slated for Change
Here is the full list of roads where speed limit changes are in the works:June 26
- Highway 401 from Highway 15 to Highway 16
- Highway 416 from Cedar Grove Road to Highway 401
July 31
- Highway 402 from Highway 401 to White Oak Drive
- Highway 402 from Waterworks to 350m east of Colborne Drive
Aug. 21
- Highway 7 from Appleton Side Road/County Road 17 to Highway 417
- Highway 115 from Highway 35 to Parkway Interchange
- Highway 400 from Highway 401 to Lake Joseph Road
- Highway 416 from 1.5 km south of Highway 416/417 to Fallowfield Road/County Road 12
- Highway 417 from Leitrim Road to Ottawa Regional Road 174
- Highway 417 from Highway 416/417 Interchange to Highway 7
Aug. 31
- Highway 401 from Merlin Road to Highway 427
- Highway 401 from Highway 404 to Highway 35/115
- Highway 401 from Cobourg to Colborne
- Highway 401 from Sidney Street to CNR Overhead Bridge in Belleville
- Highway 401 from County Road 38 to Highway 15
- Highway 403 from Highway 401 to Middletown Line
Sept. 30
- Highway 403 from Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) to Highway 401
- Highway 404 from Highway 401 to Mulock Drive
- Highway 406 from Westchester Avenue to Highway 58
- Highway 407 from Brock Road to Highway 35/115
- Highway 412 from Highway 401 to Highway 407
- Highway 418 from Highway 401 to Highway 407
- QEW from Freeman Interchange to Highway 403
- QEW from Concession Road to McLeod Road
- QEW from Mountain Road to Jordan Road
