A federal election is coming up on April 28th. It's time for the incoming federal government to invest in more reliable, frequent transit service by protecting funding for new TTC subway trains, increasing federal funding towards public transit, and allowing the TTC to use the funding for more bus, streetcar, and subway service.

Investing in transit means good, green Canadian jobs and less congestion. Investing in transit means you can continue to rely on the TTC to get to school, work, and everywhere else. The amount of the fund needs to be increased, in order to truly transform transit across the country!

Add your name using the tool on the right (or bottom of this page for mobile users) to send a message: Invest in public transit so you can rely on transit to get around, and to support Canadian jobs!

Call on the candidates in your riding to invest in more reliable, frequent transit service!

Ask your federal MP candidates these questions:

• Will you protect funding for new Line 2 subway trains by keeping the Canada Public Transit Fund?
  Without new trains, the subway will break down more often. Building new subway trains in Canada will create more jobs and build a stronger economy.
• Will you fix the broken transit funding model? Stable operating funding is needed to prevent service cuts and keep transit affordable. The TTC depends too much on rider fares for its budget. In an affordability crisis, riders can't afford to pay for more fare increases.
• Will you increase the amount of federal funding so people can continue to count on transit? People across Canada deserve well-funded transit, but the Canada Public Transit Fund doesn’t go far enough. Increased funding is needed to fix subway slow zones on Line 1 and make service more frequent and reliable.

Find the Liberal, Conservative, NDP, and Green Party candidates that are running for election in your area through the links below, and call them today!

• List of Liberal candidates
• List of Conservative candidates
• List of NDP candidates
• List of Green candidates

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More Context

Canada Public Transit Fund announced

On July 17, 2024, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the Canada Public Transit Fund (CPTF) is now open for applications. This is a big step forward in our campaign for federal transit funding!

 

Funding for new subway trains announced, but will the next federal government cancel it?

TTCriders has been campaigning for federal funding for new line 2 trains for months, and finally secured the federal portion of funding on November 29, 2024 through the Canada Public Transit Fund. The TTC needs new trains to replace aging Line 2 trains that will reach the end of their design life in 2026. With the upcoming election, it's more important than ever that this commitment is secured by the next federal government to ensure Toronto subway riders can continue to have reliable train service.

 

Why should the federal government help? 

Federal MPs need to do their part to support Toronto’s needs, from shelters to transit. Premier Ford has announced some support to run the TTC, but it’s not enough to fill the budget shortfall. With investment from the federal government, the TTC could increase service on subways, streetcars, and buses -- and make transit more affordable. 

The federal government has announced the Canada Public Transit Fund and that is good news. Applications are open, but the funding will not start until 2026. Transit agencies across Canada are asking the federal government to make this support available sooner.

 

Why should the federal government provide operating funding? 

A new report from Environmental Defence and Équiterre found that Canada can double public transit ridership by 2035 if federal and provincial governments step up investments in expanding transit service hours and frequency, implement bus lanes and improve urban planning to encourage more housing density near transit.

Right now, transit agencies and cities are not allowed to use federal dollars to run more bus, subway, and streetcar service, or to complete preventative maintenance work; federal funding is only used for capital projects like buying new vehicles or building new transit lines. 

This means new streetcars and buses could sit empty in the garage! This is why we are calling on MPs to speed up the Canada Public Transit Fund and allow cities to use it to operate transit.  

 

Why increase the size of the fund?

The money the federal government has allocated to this fund is not enough. The Canada Public Transit Fund will distribute $30 billion over 10 years (or $3 billion per year on average). But this funding is supposed to help transit agencies across the whole country. Toronto will be competing with cities like Vancouver, Edmonton, Ottawa, Montreal, and so many others. If the TTC's request for $758 million to pay for Line 2 trains is approved, this project alone would use up 25% of one year's funding for all of Canada. Meanwhile, the TTC needs about $2.4 billion each year just to keep the transit system in a state of good repair, according to Toronto's latest corporate asset management plan.

For the Canada Public Transit Fund to truly transform transit, more federal money needs to be made available.

 

What is the Transit Pledge?

“I pledge my support for immediate federal funding for new TTC subway trains, accelerating the Permanent Public Transit Fund, and making it available for transit operating budgets.”

At this time, five MPs have signed the Transit Pledge: MPs Shaun Chen, Nate Erskine-Smith, and Salma Zahid have signed representing their constituents, and Jagmeet Singh and Elizabeth May both signed as leaders of their parties. Tell your MP to join them and commit to funding for public transit!

Riders need safe and reliable public transit. Send a message to your federal Member of Parliament to invest in Toronto's transit needs as soon as possible and sign the Transit Pledge!