Remarks by the Deputy Prime Minister announcing the delivery of new made-in-Canada streetcars for Toronto

Forty-seven of these new, made-in-Canada streetcars are supported directly by our federal government through an investment of $180 million.

Toronto, ON – November 17, 2023

Hello.

I would like to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered on the traditional territories of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples.

I am so happy to be here with Minister Sarkaria, Associate Minister Thanigasalam, Mayor Olivia Chow, and Councillor Myers to celebrate this excellent news for the people we all represent, for the people we serve, the people of Toronto.

As a downtown Toronto MP, I know very well how important the TTC, and the TTC’s streetcars, are to the people who live and work and play in this amazing city.

The TTC connects hundreds of thousands of people every day to work, to school, to home, to fun. Toronto’s streetcar system is one of the busiest in North America—and as our city grows, the people of Toronto deserve and need public transit that grows with them.

That is why I am really delighted to be here today—with our partners at the Government of Ontario and the City of Toronto—to really celebrate 60 beautiful, brand-new, made-in-Canada streetcars.

Forty-seven of these new, made-in-Canada streetcars are supported directly by our federal government through an investment of $180 million.

These new streetcars are high-capacity. That means a faster and more comfortable commute for the people of Toronto.

And these streetcars are really a double win for the people of Ontario.

They are going to mean a faster, more comfortable commute to wherever you want to go in Toronto, and they represent great jobs for people in Thunder Bay, for hardworking, highly-skilled union workers in that great Canadian city.

As Finance Minister, that’s something that I want to highlight about today’s announcement—because creating good-paying, middle-class jobs across Canada, across Ontario, is a cornerstone of our economic plan.

And a thriving Toronto absolutely depends on having a thriving public transit system. It is central to our economic plan. That is why our government is investing in Toronto, and in Toronto’s transit infrastructure.

Just last spring, I was very happy to be with Councillor McKelvie announcing a $349 million federal investment to purchase 340 zero-emission TTC buses and 248 chargers.

In December of last year, our government invested $500 million to improve the capacity of the Bloor-Yonge Station, at the heart of the TTC, and in my riding of University—Rosedale.

In 2021, our government announced $10.4 billion for four major transit infrastructure projects here in the GTA: the Scarborough Subway Extension, Eglinton Crosstown West, the Ontario Line, and the Yonge North Subway Extension.

When complete, these projects will provide more than six million people with better access to services and public transit options across 1,200 kilometres.

We are really, really ambitious, and we are building for our growing city, our growing province, and our growing country.

Our government will continue to make investments in Toronto’s public transit infrastructure, including through the billions of dollars in predictable funding we announced for communities across the country in 2021.

The investments we are making today are delivering real, tangible results for the people of Toronto. And they are essential to building a sustainable public transit network that Torontonians can rely on for generations to come.

Today’s announcement is an example of the amazing things we can achieve for the people of Toronto when all three orders of government work together and when all three of us pay our fair share.

So I really look forward to continuing to work with our partners— with Minister Sarkaria, with Mayor Chow—to continue building a Toronto that we love, that we all can flourish in.

Thank you very much.