One of the favourite pastimes of any Canadian city-dweller is complaining about how much transit sucks. Clearly, Ottawa has heard enough of this grumbling.
What happened: Applications have opened for the shiny new federal public transit fund that will dole out $30 billion between 2026 and 2036. Transit bodies can now ask for funding through two streams: one for existing transit systems and one for building transit networks.
- Applications for a third stream focused on specific issues like rural transit, transit in Indigenous communities, and the electrification of transit will open at a later date.
Why it matters: Canada’s public transit systems collectively suffered shortfalls of over $750 million in 2023, per the Canadian Urban Transit Association. Continued spending gaps could result in cuts which, in a worst-case scenario, could spiral into systemic collapses as people abandon unreliable services.
- Canada’s three largest transit authorities in Toronto, Montréal, and Metro Vancouver — which service 60% of Canadian transit riders — have called on the feds to unlock the new funding earlier.
Zoom out: Transit authorities have continually raised fares to make up for chronic underfunding. So far this year, riders in Metro Vancouver, Saint John, Mississauga, and the Greater Montréal Area have all seen fare hikes.—QH