The Court of Appeal for Ontario has ruled that the removal of bike lanes along three Toronto arteries is not a violation of Charter rights and can proceed, reversing a lower court ruling. The Ford government previously passed legislation in 2024 enabling it to remove bike lanes along Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue. But in a 2025 ruling, Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul Schabas found the province’s plan violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it would “put people at increased risk of harm and death which engages the right to life and security of the person.” In a ruling released on Friday, a three-judge panel with the Court of Appeal for Ontario unanimously found that “the Ontario legislature is as free to establish bicycle lanes as it is to remove them or authorize their removal.” “There is no Charter right to bicycle lanes – neither specifically nor as inference from any of the rights specifically enumerated in the Charter,” the decision states. “The existence of bicycle lanes depends on legislation alone.” Premier Doug Ford previously slammed the lower court decision as ”ridiculous" and alleged that Schabas overruled the people of Ontario “because of ideology — not because of law.” In their ruling, the three-judge panel said that the Charter “has nothing to say about whether bicycle lanes are a good or a bad idea – wise or unwise policy” and that these judgments should not be the “business of the courts.” The ruling goes on to state that Schabas “erred by focusing on concerns about the efficacy of the legislation” and ultimately delivered a decision that was “replete with criticism not only of the legislation but also of the government’s conduct in promoting its passage.” “The bottom line is this: there is no constitutional obligation to regulate the use of roads in any particular manner – no constitutional obligation to build bicycle lanes or to retain any that have been built,” the decision states. “The legislature is free to legislate to remove a bicycle lane from a road – indeed, it may remove a road entirely – without implicating the Charter, and in particular, without implicating anyone’s rights.” ‘A victory for common sense’ The 2025 ruling came after a legal challenge by the advocacy group Cycle Toronto and two individual cyclists. In a statement released on Friday afternoon, Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sakaria welcomed the ruling, calling it a “victory for common sense” and for “respecting the appropriate division of roles between duly elected legislatures and the courts.” “Our government received a mandate from the people to tackle the traffic and gridlock costing Ontario’s economy more than $56 billion every year. We’ve always been clear: bike lanes should go where they make sense, on secondary roads, not at the expense of vehicle lanes on our busiest streets,” he said. Sakaria did not say in his statements whether the province would immediately move to remove the lanes. Speaking with CP24, Cycle Toronto Executive Director Michael Longfield said that the group “intends to keep fighting this to the full extent of the law.” “This decision it really is an affront to local democracy,” he said. “These bike lanes aren’t here because Cycle Toronto said to put them here. This is a the result of the decision by city staff and city council to vote in favour of them.” Longfeld added that in the event that bike lanes along University Avenue, Bloor Street and Yonge Street are removed he expects there twill be a rise in the number of people killed and seriously injured along those roadways. “I remember what those roads were like before they had bike lanes, they felt very hostile,” he said. The 2024 legislation passed by the Ford government also prohibited municipalities from removing lanes of traffic for the purpose of installing new bike lanes. Toronto City Council did adopt a new plan last November that aims to add more than 20 kilometres of new bike lanes to its network but that initiative largely hinges on narrowing existing lanes of traffic. In a statement released on Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for Mayor Olivia Chow said that she will continue to pursue “win-win solutions” that “restores car lanes while maintaining safe cycling infrastructure.” “She resists any argument that pits road users against each other because it makes everyone less safe,” the spokesperson said.
