Ontario Highway 413

Route description

The proposed route of Highway413 was confirmed in the Technically Preferred Route report, which was published by Aecon and released on August7, 2020.{{cite press release

| author-link = WSP Global | access-date = March 15, 2021 The approximately 52 km route will consist of a four-to-six lane freeway as well as a transitway situated within a 170 m right-of-way.{{cite news | access-date = March 15, 2021 |access-date = March 15, 2021 Fifteen interchanges were proposed. Four of the interchanges, including both terminuses, will be freeway-to-freeway. The corridor will arch around the west and north sides of the rural–urban fringe of Brampton, skirting the boundary between the regions of Halton and Peel before proceeding northwest into York Region.{{Google maps | access-date = March 15, 2021}}

The southwestern end will be at a freeway-to-freeway connection at the existing interchange between Highway401 and Highway407ETR at the tripoint of Halton Hills, Milton and Mississauga. It will meander northward, entering Brampton at an interchange with Winston Churchill Boulevard (Peel Regional Road 19). Crossing the Credit River immediately east of Georgetown, it will gradually curve northwest to parallel Old School Road east of Heritage Road. It will interchange with Bovaird Drive (Regional Road107), which becomes Highway 7 to the west beyond the Brampton–Halton Hills boundary. Midway between Bovaird Drive and the next interchange at Mayfield Road (Peel Regional Road14), the freeway will cross the CN Halton Subdivision, which carries the Kitchener line of GO Transit.

Beyond Mayfield Road, Highway413 will make a broad curve to the northeast into Caledon, passing Mississauga Road (Peel Regional Road1). Travelling roughly parallel to and midway between Mayfield Road and King Street (Peel Regional Road9), it will interchange with Chinguacousy Road and pass north of Snelgrove and Mayfield West near an interchange with Highway 10. Just east of Mayfield West, a new extension of Highway410, will meet Highway413 at a freeway-to-freeway interchange. The new extension will also bypass the 4 km extension north of Mayfield Road that opened in2009. {{cite news

| access-date = March 15, 2021

| access-date = July 25, 2010 To the east will be a partial interchange with Bramalea Road. After interchanging with Airport Road (Peel Regional Road7), the route will curve southeast, with an interchange at The Gore Road (Peel Regional Road8), before re-entering Brampton to pass between the large unincorporated community of Bolton in Caledon and the Brampton neighbourhood of Castlemore. An interchange at Humber Station Road will provide an eastern access to Mayfield Road, which Highway413 will cross.

Highway413 will cross the Peel–York regional boundary at Regional Road50 (former Highway 50) immediately north of Nashville Road (York Regional Road49), where it will encounter a freeway-to-freeway interchange with an extension of Highway427 northward from Major Mackenzie Drive (York Regional Road 25). Curving northeast, the route will encounter the CP MacTier Subdivision before crossing over the Humber River at the location of the Humber Valley Heritage Trail.{{cite news

| access-date = March 15, 2021 Between the main branch and east branch of the Humber River will be an interchange with York Regional Road27 (former Highway 27) north of Kleinburg. The final several kilometres will travel east, midway between Kirby Road and King Vaughan Road. After a partial interchange with Weston Road (York Regional Road56), it ends at a freeway-to-freeway interchange with Highway400.

History

2002 to 2018

The GTA West Corridor was first conceived as the GTA East–West Economic Corridor by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) in its Central Ontario Strategic Transportation Directions study in January 2002.{{cite report

| access-date = March 19, 2021 The North–South Corridor Feasibility Study, prepared for the MTO and City of Brampton in September 2003, was first to recommend acquiring land for a future "higher order transportation facility" around Brampton.{{cite web

| access-date = March 19, 2021 The report identified the need for a controlled-access highway as part of the city's ultimate transportation plan to serve western Brampton. Land was subsequently set aside for the next several years while the MTO analysed the need for both corridors.{{cite web

| access-date = March 17, 2021

In 2005, the Government of Ontario passed the Places to Grow Act, which set forth consistent urban planning principles across the province for the following 25years. The Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe was released in June of the following year as a framework for implementing the act,{{cite web

| access-date = March 19, 2021 with a future transportation corridor identified north of Highway401 between Guelph and Vaughan.{{cite web

| access-date = March 19, 2021 Following the submission of a Terms of Reference on June15, 2007, an EA began{{refn|group="note"|name="EAbegins"|"Subsection 13(1) of the Environmental Assessment Act allows a person to apply to the Minister of the Environment to approve a class environmental assessment with respect to a class of undertakings. The application consists of a proposed terms of reference and subsequently a class environmental assessment."{{cite web

| access-date = March 20, 2021 on March4, 2008, to establish conceptual routes for additional transportation infrastructure to interconnect the GTA West economic centres (Milton, Brampton and Vaughan) with Guelph and Waterloo Region.{{cite web

| access-date = March 20, 2021

| access-date = March 20, 2021 The early concepts for the GTA West Corridor considered five different options, including two extending as far west as Guelph without intersecting Highway401 or Highway407.{{cite news

| access-date = March 22, 2021 When combined with the planned Highway 7N west of Guelph, they would have resulted in a parallel freeway to the north of Highway401 between Kitchener/Waterloo and Vaughan.{{refn|group="note"|name="7N"|Both options 4-4 and 4-5 would have connected the Hanlon Expressway with Highway400.{{cite report

| access-date = March 21, 2021 Highway7N will connect Kitchener/Waterloo with the north end of the Hanlon Expressway.{{cite web

| access-date = March 22, 2021

Simultaneously, the City of Brampton appealed an amendment of the Halton Region Official Plan to the Ontario Municipal Board. As a result, the North–South Corridor Feasibility Study evolved into the Halton–Peel Boundary Area Transportation Study (HPBATS), which commenced on April11, 2007.{{cite report

| access-date = March 20, 2021

| access-date = March 20, 2021 HPBATS recommended a north–south route, known as the Halton–Peel Freeway, east of Georgetown and west of Brampton as a complementary project that would connect in the north with the potential GTA West Corridor. The completed study and its recommendations were submitted to the MTO in late April 2010.{{cite news

| access-date = March 20, 2021 In 2012 the provincial EA recommended that the GTA West should follow a broadly similar corridor to the Halton–Peel Freeway.{{cite web

| access-date = March 20, 2021

Stage 1 of the EA concluded with the release of the GTA West Transportation Development Strategy Report in November 2012. The report indicated limited demand for and the considerable environmental consequences of a new crossing of the Niagara Escarpment. It recommended not proceeding further with a new route over the escarpment, instead favouring a connection to Highway401 west of Mississauga, including the route of the proposed Halton–Peel Freeway. An alternative route, connecting with Highway401 west of Milton and travelling between 5Side Road and 10Side Road through Halton Hills, was also not carried forward, with the MTO instead electing to widen Highway401 to 12 lanes between Milton and Mississauga.{{cite report

| access-date = March 21, 2021

| access-date = March 21, 2021

Stage 2 of the GTA West EA began in February 2014, intended to further refine the study corridor to a preliminary design.{{cite report |access-date = March 22, 2021 |archive-date = April 8, 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220408135955/https://www.brampton.ca/EN/City-Hall/meetings-agendas/PDD%20Committee%202010/20150330pis_G10.pdf |url-status = dead However, by this point public opposition to the corridor began to appear, with the group Environmental Defence starting a campaign against the proposed highway by 2015.{{cite web

| access-date = March 23, 2021 On December16, 2015, Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca announced the suspension of the EA process.{{cite web

| access-date = March 17, 2021 A three-member advisory panel{{refn|group="note"|name="advisory-members"|The three-member GTA West Advisory Panel consisted of former Deputy Minister of the Environment Gail Beggs, environmental lawyer Rodney Northey, and Ryerson urban planning professor Dr. Matthias Sweet.{{cite web |access-date = March 20, 2021 |archive-date = March 4, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210304153410/https://www.gtawestreview.com/advisory-panel-members/ |url-status = dead was formed in October 2016 to assess alternative approaches to meet projected traffic levels.{{cite news

| access-date = March 22, 2021 The suspension was opposed by the municipalities of Vaughan, King, York Region, Caledon and Peel Region,{{cite news

| access-date = March 17, 2021 as well as Brampton.{{cite news

| access-date = March 22, 2021 The advisory panel report was released on May29, 2017,{{cite report

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190618163557/http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/publications/gta-west-report/letter.shtml | archive-date = June 18, 2019 | access-date = March 23, 2021 recommending that the EA be stopped, and the "development of a single transportation plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe" proceed in its place.{{cite report

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190618163558/http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/publications/gta-west-report/executive-summary.shtml#recommendation | archive-date = June 18, 2019 | access-date = March 23, 2021 The panel also recommended that the provincial government negotiate with the private operators of the 407ETR to encourage the routing of more truck traffic onto that route, alleviating congestion on the 401, and negating the need for the GTA West.{{cite web

| access-date = March 17, 2021 Consequently the Ontario government cancelled the GTA West Study on February9, 2018.{{cite news

| access-date = March 17, 2021

| access-date = February 17, 2021

| access-date = March 23, 2021 In the run up to the 2018 provincial election, the Progressive Conservatives stated that they would complete the EA of the project if elected.{{cite web

| access-date = March 23, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210322204415/https://www.ontariopc.ca/plan_for_the_people | archive-date = March 22, 2021}}

2018 to present

The 2018 Ontario general election, held on June7, 2018, ended the 15-year tenure of the Ontario Liberal Party and saw Premier Kathleen Wynne defeated by the Progressive Conservatives (PCs) under Doug Ford.{{cite news

| access-date = March 24, 2021 As part of the PCs Fall Economic Statement, released in November 2018, the government committed to the campaign pledge of resuming the suspended EA for the GTA West Corridor, "in order to speed up travel and alleviate traffic congestion".{{cite report

| chapter-url = https://www.fin.gov.on.ca/fallstatement/2018/chapter-1c.html#section-5 | access-date = February 17, 2021 The EA was subsequently resumed on June 5, 2019.{{cite news

| access-date = March 24, 2021

| access-date = March 17, 2021}} In September and October of that year, a series of Public Information Centres were held in which the preferred route and interchange locations were announced.{{cite web

| access-date = March 29, 2020 This route, with modifications,{{refn|group="note"|name="coleraine"|As a result of an approved subdivision proposal north of the GTA West Corridor, the Coleraine Drive interchange was moved to Humber Station Road.{{cite news |access-date = March 24, 2021 was confirmed publicly by the provincial government on August 7, 2020.{{cite press release

| access-date = March 17, 2021 The EA for the corridor was expected to be complete by the end of 2022.{{cite news |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191117141000/https://www.bramptonguardian.com/news-story/9701949-province-says-no-timeline-yet-for-gta-west-highway/ |url-status = dead |archive-date = November 17, 2019 |access-date = March 24, 2021

On February3, 2021, Jonathan Wilkinson, the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change announced that he had received a request for the project to undergo an EA at the federal level,{{cite web

| access-date = March 29, 2021 following a formal request from Environmental Defence.{{cite web

| access-date = March 29, 2021

| access-date = March 29, 2021 |access-date = March 29, 2021 On May3, 2021, Wilkinson announced that a federal EA would take place.{{Cite web

| access-date = May 3, 2021

| access-date = May 3, 2021 |access-date = November 5, 2021}} In response, provincial Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney stated that she would work with the federal government to address “newly found concerns" on potential adverse effects on species at risk.

Funding was committed to the project as part of the fall economic statement on November1, 2021.{{cite news That month, the GTA West began to be referred to by the Government of Ontario as Highway413 for the first time.{{cite news | access-date = November 11, 2021 The highway was a contentious issue during the 2022 Ontario general election, with the Liberal, NDP and Green Party pledging to cancel the project if elected.{{cite news | access-date = May 20, 2022}} The three NDP MPPs in Brampton were defeated by their PC counterparts in the election.{{cite news | access-date = June 3, 2022}}

In early 2023, 467 landowners along the planned route received letters requesting permission to enter their property for "intrusive and non-intrusive fieldwork" to assess the suitability of their property for the project. The inspections were conducted between March 2023 and the end of 2024.

In October 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Impact Assessment Act was largely unconstitutional. Following this, Attorney General of Ontario Doug Downey announced that the province would seek legal action to prevent the federal government intervening in Highway 413. In March 2024, the Canadian government moved to drop the federal EA, with Downey stating "we have come to an agreement". In April 2024, the provincial and federal governments announced that the EA had been dropped, and that they would work together to "minimize environmental impacts in areas of federal environmental jurisdiction" and ensure that impacts to species at risk are considered. Following the announcement, provincial Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria stated "we finally have certainty to move forward with the ... project". The announcement was criticised by other political parties and environmental groups. Later that month, Premier Ford announced that construction will begin in 2025.

In October 2024, the government of Ontario tabled Bill 212, exempting the Highway 413 project from the Environmental Assessment Act, as well as speeding up property acquisitions.

On August 27, 2025, Ontario premier Doug Ford and his provincial government confirmed they are starting construction on Highway 413.

Impacts and environmental concerns

The highway has attracted criticism from municipalities, politicians, campaign groups and the public regarding its potential impacts.{{cite news

| access-date = March 17, 2021

| access-date = July 9, 2021 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210313144411/https://d36rd3gki5z3d3.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IsBuildingHighway413TheBestOption_Report_Final.pdf | archive-date = March 13, 2021}}{{cite web

| access-date = March 18, 2021

Environmental groups have criticised the significant impact that the highway would have on the environment. In addition to increasing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, opponents claim the highway would disrupt woodlands, waterways, wetlands, wildlife habitats and species at risk.{{cite web

| access-date = March 18, 2021

| access-date = March 18, 2021 The highway will travel through both the Greenbelt, the Whitebelt (an area of land left unprotected from development when the Greenbelt was established in 2005) and the Humber and Credit watersheds. {{cite news | access-date= March 18, 2021 According to the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, the highway would specifically impact 85waterways, 220wetlands, 10different species at risk and hundreds of acres of vulnerable wildlife habitat. According to a study commissioned by Environmental Defence, 29 species at risk were found along the proposed highway.

Urban planning critics claim the highway will encourage urban sprawl through induced demand,{{cite web

| access-date = March 17, 2021

| access-date = March 17, 2021 as research shows that building new highways tends to attract more drivers and fails to improve congestion levels on other roads.{{cite journal

| access-date = March 19, 2021 Consequently, they claim it would increase car dependency in surrounding areas and ultimately only save commuters around 30 to 60 seconds of travel time. Other groups, such as the National Farmers Union have concerns about the impacts of the highway on agricultural land, as the highway would be built on around 2,000 acres of Class 1 and 2 farmland – the most productive designation.{{cite web

| access-date = March 18, 2021 A planning land use expert noted that "agricultural land is valued as low as C$18,000 an acre, but residential land is easily worth C$1 million an acre" and that billions of dollars could be made if farmland adjacent to the highway was rezoned as land for development. Avison Young, a real estate services firm, estimated around 62,000 acres of developable land is available located within 2 km of the 16 proposed interchanges.{{cite web

| access-date = March 29, 2021 In 2021, a Toronto Star investigation noted that 3,300 acres of land along the route was owned by 8 major property developers, several of which had donated to Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative government.{{cite news | url-access = subscription | access-date = November 2, 2021

Other critics have noted the high cost of building the highway – the cost of construction in 2012 was estimated at C$4.7billion, with 2021 estimates around C$6billion. It is unclear whether the highway would be tolled, similar to Highway 407.{{cite web

| author-link = WSP Global | access-date = March 17, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210209125814/https://www.gta-west.com/faq/ | archive-date = February 9, 2021 As an alternative to a new freeway, stakeholders have suggested investing in local transportation improvements. Some proposed suggestions include improvements to local roads, truck priority lanes on Highway407, public transit investments including GO Transit Regional Express Rail and widening of existing highways.{{cite news

| access-date = March 18, 2021 Others have suggested working with the owners of Highway407 to increase capacity on that highway, or subsidize truck drivers to use Highway 407. A study commissioned by the previous provincial government stated that the highway would save all drivers in Greater Golden Horseshoe approximately 30 seconds of travel time, regardless of whether their trip used the highway or not. The Ministry of Transportation contends that the Highway413 will save drivers up to 30 minutes if their trip uses the full length of the highway.{{cite web | access-date = May 20, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230324033403/https://www.highway413.ca/2021/03/31/timesavings/ | archive-date = March 24, 2023

Perspectives

The majority of local municipalities have opposed the project, including Mississauga, Vaughan,{{cite web

| access-date = March 18, 2021 Halton Hills, Halton Region, Peel Region,{{cite web

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210411043216/https://ca.news.yahoo.com/region-peel-votes-oppose-gta-001549314.html | archive-date = April 11, 2021}} King Township{{cite web

| url-status = live | access-date = July 9, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210710031222/http://c3.vaughan.ca/news/2021/04-April/clip4-8-6.html | archive-date = July 10, 2021}} and Orangeville.{{cite news

| access-date = March 18, 2021 Brampton and Caledon withdrew their support of the fast-tracked environmental assessment.{{cite news

| access-date = March 18, 2021 The NDP opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, the Green Party of Ontario{{cite web

| access-date = March 20, 2021 and Ontario Liberal Party have stated that they would scrap the highway following the 2022 provincial election.{{cite web

| access-date = July 9, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210306031633/https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ndp-scrap-sprawl-inducing-gta-182433298.html | archive-date = March 6, 2021}}{{cite web

| access-date = March 22, 2021 Despite the corridor not directly impacting the City of Toronto itself, Toronto City Council passed a resolution in March 2021 condemning the proposed highway.{{cite news

| access-date = March 20, 2021

Supporters of the freeway include Regional Municipality of York{{cite news

| access-date = March 29, 2021 as well as the Progressive Conservative government. Several non-governmental organizations such as the Ontario Trucking Association,{{cite web

| access-date = March 20, 2021 the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD),{{cite news

| access-date = March 23, 2021 and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario also continue to support the project.{{cite news

| access-date = March 23, 2021 The Toronto Metropolitan University Centre for Urban Research and Land Development (CUR) also specifically supported the streamlining of the EA process, noting that “It is simply taking too long to bring critical infrastructure improvements such as roads, transit, sewers and water to completion".{{cite web

| access-date = March 29, 2021

Exit list

The following table lists the proposed exits along Highway413, as shown in the Preferred Route.

| access-date = July 9, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180408141248/http://www.peelregion.ca/council/council_minutes/2000s/2001/rcmin20010712.htm | archive-date = April 8, 2018}}}} |access-date = March 23, 2021 |archive-date = January 25, 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220125083825/https://www.vaughan.ca/projects/projects_and_studies/transportation_master_plan/General%20Documents/Appendix%20D%20-%20Discussion%20Papers.pdf |url-status = dead despite not being a provincial highway since January1, 1998.{{cite report

Notes

References

References

1. Crawley, Mike. (16 October 2021). "Doug Ford's PCs believe Highway 413 is a winning issue in next election". [[CBC News]].
2. (3 February 2023). "Doug Ford government asks hundreds of landowners for 'permission' to evaluate Highway 413 site". [[Toronto Star]].
3. (13 October 2023). "Supreme Court rules environmental impact legislation largely unconstitutional". CBC News.
4. (24 October 2023). "Ontario asks court to prevent feds from 'holding up' Highway 413, Ontario Place". CBC News.
5. (21 March 2024). "Ottawa agrees to scrap Ontario Highway 413 impact assessment, pending judge approval". CBC News.
6. (15 April 2024). "Ottawa and Ontario announce deal to scrap Highway 413 impact assessment". CBC News.
7. (15 April 2024). "Roadblock cleared: Ontario's Highway 413 moving forward after governments reach agreement".
8. (30 April 2025). "Highway 413 construction to start in 2025".
9. Carter, Adam. (Nov 25, 2024). "Ontario passes bill that allows major Toronto bike lanes to be ripped out". [[CBC News]].
10. Cross, Jessica Smith. (Oct 24, 2024). "Ford government bill to end Highway 413 environmental assessment". [[Village Media]].
11. (2024). "Bill 212, Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024".
12. D'Cunha, Patricia. (October 17, 2024). "Ontario to speed up environmental assessments, property acquisitions for Highway 413". [[CityNews Toronto]].
13. (August 27, 2025). "Ontario Beginning Construction of Highway 413".
14. (5 Jan 2024). "How the tiny western chorus frog could stop Doug Ford's Highway 413". CBC News.
15. (26 March 2022). "How subsidizing trucks to use the 407 could cost Ontario less than building Highway 413". CBC News.
16. (29 August 2023). "50,000 sign petition asking feds to block Ontario's Highway 413 project". CBC News.