The proposed highway would serve as an outer ring road around the built-up areas of Brampton and Vaughan that would permit traffic travelling between Southwestern Ontario and Ontario's cottage country or Northern Ontario to bypass much of the Greater Toronto Area. However, the highway has attracted criticism for its environmental impacts, including concerns about its footprint on designated farmland in the Greenbelt, and its implications to encourage urban sprawl and induced demand.
Planning for the corridor began in the mid 2000s. However the EA was suspended in 2015, and the project shelved in February 2018 by the Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne. Following the 2018 Ontario general election in June of that year, the new Progressive Conservative government of Doug Ford announced the resumption of the suspended EA in November. Since then, several of the municipalities along the route have voiced their opposition to its construction. In April 2024, a previously announced federal EA was dropped by the Canadian government, with the federal and provincial governments to work together to minimize environmental impacts along the corridor instead. Construction is set to begin in 2025.
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.[5]
The approximately 52 km (32 mi) route would consist of a four-to-six lane freeway as well as a transitway situated within a 170-metre (560 ft)-wide right-of-way.[1][6]
Fifteen interchanges were proposed. Four of the interchanges, including both termini, would be freeway-to-freeway. The corridor would 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.[5][7]
The southwestern end would be at a freeway-to-freeway connection at the existing interchange between Highway401 and Highway407ETR at the tripoint of Halton Hills, Milton and Mississauga.[8] It would meander northward, entering Brampton at an interchange with Winston Churchill Boulevard. Crossing the Credit River immediately east of Georgetown, it would gradually curve northwest to parallel Old School Road east of Heritage Road. It would 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 would cross the CN Halton Subdivision, which carries the Kitchener line of GO Transit.[5][7]
The Highway410 extension, opened in 2009, would be bypassed by the construction of Highway413.
Beyond Mayfield Road, Highway413 would 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 would interchange with Chinguacousy Road and pass north of Snelgrove and Mayfield West near an interchange with Highway 10.[5][7]
Just east of Mayfield West, a new extension of Highway410, bypassing 4 km (2.5 mi) of the extension north of Mayfield Road that opened in2009, and would meet Highway413 at a freeway-to-freeway interchange.[9][10]
To the east would be an partial interchange with Bramalea Road. After interchanging with Airport Road (Peel Regional Road7), the route would 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 would provide an eastern access to Mayfield Road, which Highway413 would cross.[5][7]
Highway413 would cross the Peel–York regional boundary at Regional Road50 (former Highway 50) immediately north of Nashville Road (York Regional Road49), where it would encounter a freeway-to-freeway interchange with an extension of Highway427 northward from Major Mackenzie Drive (York Regional Road 25).[5]
Curving northeast, the proposed route would encounter the CP MacTier Subdivision before crossing over the Humber River at the location of the Humber Valley Heritage Trail.[11]
Between the main branch and east branch of the Humber River would be an interchange with York Regional Road27 (former Highway 27) north of Kleinburg. The final several kilometres would travel east, midway between Kirby Road and King Vaughan Road. After a partial interchange with Weston Road (York Regional Road56) it would end at a freeway-to-freeway interchange with Highway400.[5][7]
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.[2]
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.[12]
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.[13]
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,[14]
with a future transportation corridor identified north of Highway401 between Guelph and Vaughan.[15]
Following the submission of a Terms of Reference on June15, 2007, an EA began[note 1]
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.[17][18]
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.[19]
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.[note 2]
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.[22][23]
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.[24]
In 2012 the provincial EA recommended that the GTA West should follow a broadly similar corridor to the Halton–Peel Freeway.[25]
Stage 1 of the GTA West EA concluded with the recommendation that the Highway 401 and Highway 407 ETR interchange (located at the curve at top of photo) serve as the western terminus of the proposed freeway.
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.[26][27]
Stage 2 of the GTA West EA began in February 2014, intended to further refine the study corridor to a preliminary design.[28]
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.[29]
On December16, 2015, Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca announced the suspension of the EA process.[30]
A three-member advisory panel[note 3]
was formed in October 2016 to assess alternative approaches to meet projected traffic levels.[32]
The suspension was opposed by the municipalities of Vaughan, King, York Region, Caledon and Peel Region,[33]
as well as Brampton.[34]
The advisory panel report was released on May29, 2017,[35]
recommending that the EA be stopped, and the "development of a single transportation plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe" proceed in its place.[36]
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.[37]
Consequently the Ontario government cancelled the GTA West Study on February9, 2018.[38][39][40]
In the run up to the 2018 provincial election, the Progressive Conservatives stated that they would complete the EA of the project if elected.[41]
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.[42]
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".[4]
The EA was subsequently resumed on June 5, 2019.[43][44]
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.[45]
This route, with modifications,[note 4]
was confirmed publicly by the provincial government on August 7, 2020.[47]
The EA for the corridor was expected to be complete by the end of 2022.[48]
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,[49]
following a formal request from Environmental Defence.[50][51][52]
On May3, 2021, Wilkinson announced that a federal EA would take place.[53][54][55]
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.[55]
Funding was committed to the project as part of the fall economic statement on November1, 2021.[56]
That month, the GTA West began to be referred to by the Government of Ontario as Highway413 for the first time.[57]
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.[58]
The three NDP MPPs in Brampton were defeated by their PC counterparts in the election.[59]
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.[60] The inspections will be conducted between March 2023 and the end of 2024.[60]
In October 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Impact Assessment Act was largely unconstitutional.[61] Following this, Attorney General of OntarioDoug Downey announced that the province would seek legal action to prevent the federal government intervening in Highway 413.[62] In March 2024, the Canadian government moved to drop the federal EA, with Downey stating "we have come to an agreement".[63] 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.[64][65] Following the announcement, provincial Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria stated "we finally have certainty to move forward with the ... project".[64] The announcement was criticised by other political parties and environmental groups.[64] Later that month, Premier Ford announced that construction will begin in 2025.[66]
Impacts and environmental concerns
The highway has attracted criticism from municipalities, politicians, campaign groups and the public regarding its potential impacts.[67][68][69]
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.[70][71][72]
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. [73]
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.[70] According to a study commissioned by Environmental Defence, 29 species at risk were found along the proposed highway.[72]
Urban planning critics claim the highway will encourage urban sprawl through induced demand,[74][75]
as research shows that building new highways tends to attract more drivers and fails to improve congestion levels on other roads.[76]
Consequently, they claim it would increase car dependency in surrounding areas and ultimately only save commuters around 30 to 60 seconds of travel time.[38] 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.[77]
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.[73]Avison Young, a real estate services firm, estimated around 62,000 acres (250 km2) of developable land is available located within 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) of the 16 proposed interchanges.[78]
In 2021, a Toronto Star investigation noted that 3,300 acres (13 km2) of land along the route was owned by 8 major property developers, several of which had donated to Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative government.[79]
Other critics have noted the high cost of building the highway – the cost of construction in 2012 was estimated at C$4.7billion, with recent estimates around C$6billion.[67] It is unclear whether the highway would be tolled, similar to Highway 407.[80]
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.[68][81]
Others have suggested working with the owners of Highway407 to increase capacity on that highway,[37] or subsidize truck drivers to use Highway 407.[82] 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.[83]
Supporters of the freeway include Regional Municipality of York[94]
as well as the Progressive Conservative government.[41]
Several non-governmental organizations such as the Ontario Trucking Association,[95]
the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD),[96]
and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario also continue to support the project.[97]
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".[98]
Exit list
The following table lists the proposed exits along Highway413, as shown in the Preferred Route.[45][47]
^"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."[16]
^Both options 4-4 and 4-5 would have connected the Hanlon Expressway with Highway400.[20]
Highway7N will connect Kitchener/Waterloo with the north end of the Hanlon Expressway.[21]
^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.[31]
^As a result of an approved subdivision proposal north of the GTA West Corridor, the Coleraine Drive interchange was moved to Humber Station Road.[46][47]
^The Bovaird Drive portion of Highway7 was transferred to the Regional Municipality of Peel on November28, 2001.[99]
^York Regional Road27 carries the name "Highway27",[100]
despite not being a provincial highway since January1, 1998.[101]
^Javed, Noor (January 2, 2015). "Proposed highway to pave parts of Greenbelt proving controversial". Toronto Star. Retrieved March 23, 2021. "We see this as a lose-lose proposal," said Susan Lloyd Swail, the Greenbelt Program Manager with Environmental Defence. "There will be a loss to the Greenbelt, a loss of farmland, waterways and forests," said Swail.
^GTA West Advisory Panel (May 29, 2017). GTAW Advisory Panel's Letter (Report). Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. Archived from the original on June 18, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
^"Highway 413 construction to start in 2025". CBC News. April 30, 2025. Retrieved April 30, 2024. Construction for Ontario's Highway 413 will start next year, Premier Doug Ford says.
^ abWebster, Paul (November 24, 2020). "Highway 413: The Opposition Reloads". In the Hills. Retrieved March 18, 2021. "Agricultural land is valued as low as $18,000 an acre, but residential land is easily worth $1 million an acre," says Susan Lloyd Swail, a King City-based land-use planning expert who opposes the highway. "There are hundreds of millions of dollars to be made right now simply by rezoning farmlands around the new freeway into development lands. And there are billions more to be made in the future from developing those lands into ever more residential and industrial sprawl.
^Buist, Steve; Javed, Noor; McIntosh, Emma (April 3, 2021). "Friends with benefits? An inside look at the money, power and influence behind the Ford government's push to". The Toronto Star. ISSN0319-0781. Retrieved November 2, 2021. The group of developers own 39 properties covering 3,300 acres that are conservatively valued at nearly half a billion dollars, according to land registry documents. Most of the developers in the group are also prolific PC donors, contributing at least $813,000 to support the party since 2014.
^Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (March 31, 2021). "Time Savings - Highway 413". Highway 413. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023. The 30-second figure is from a study done in 2017 that looked at the average time savings across the entire Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH). It includes every trip on every road in every region – including places that are nowhere near the proposed Highway 413...People who travel the full length of the highway – from Vaughan to Milton – would save up to 30 minutes each way.
^"CUR supports GTA West Corridor EA streamlining". Daily Commercial News. August 31, 2020. Retrieved March 29, 2021. Without the proposed streamlining of the process it would be the year 2023 or beyond before the preliminary design study for the corridor is completed, it is simply taking too long to bring critical infrastructure improvements such as roads, transit, sewers and water to completion, or to ensure serviced sites in built-up urban and greenfield areas are available to meet the demands of new residents and businesses.
^Hunt, Geoff (July 12, 2001). "Council Minutes". Peelregion.ca. Regional Municipality of Peel. Archived from the original on April 8, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
