Province says Eglinton East LRT not currently on priority list

Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria speaks to reporters at Queen's Park Wednesday April 15, 2026.

Mayor Olivia Chow’s executive committee passed a motion Wednesday calling on the provincial and federal governments to prioritize the Eglinton East LRT, but the province said the project is not currently on their list of priorities.

“That’s a municipally-led project,” Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria told CTV News Toronto Wednesday.

“We’ve supported the City of Toronto with significant investments into public transit. Every one of our lines that is in construction, whether it’s the Ontario Line, Scarborough, Eglinton West, Yonge North—none of those have had any sort of dollars from the city, from a capital perspective.”

In addition, he pointed out the province recently committed to help fund the Waterfront East LRT.

“We continue to look forward to working with the mayor, but ultimately, this is one of the priorities that that she has put forward as her transit plan,” Sarkaria said.

He said the province is currently focused on the priority projects it has already outlined.

The Eglinton East LRT is a project envisioned by the city that would see an 18.6-kilometre light rail service run from Kennedy Station to Kingston Road, before turning north and then heading west on Sheppard Avenue. It would include stops at UofT Scarborough, Malvern Town Centre and a future subway stop at McCowan Road.

A 2023 report from city staff pegged the cost of the project at $4.65 billion.

Chow’s motion on the line calls on council to make the project its top priority among unfunded transit projects, and to call on the federal and provincial governments to each fund a third of the cost.

The motion also calls for the project to be renamed the Scarborough East Rapid Transit Line.

The line is separate from the three-stop subway extension being built by the province, as well as the bus rapid transit corridor being built to temporarily replace service from the decommissioned SRT line.

The renewed push to build more transit in Scarborough comes in an election year. Coun. Brad Bradford, who has said he is running for mayor, said last week he was planning to bring a motion to city council demanding an explanation for a delayed report from city staff on the line and to renew a push for federal and provincial funding.

Both motions are expected to be considered at city council next week.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Siobhan Morris and Jermaine Wilson.