Canada has unveiled its largest ever infrastructure project: a 1000-km rail network spanning the Toronto-Quebec City corridor and serving a potential 18 million people. The high-speed system, to be known as Alto, will feature trains capable of up to 300km/hour. Once operational, it is anticipated to slash current journey times in half and boost Canadian GDP by up to $35 billion a year (around €24 million).
With stops in Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montréal, Laval, Trois-Rivières, and Quebec City, the electrified network will offer commuters in the mega-region, including over 700,000 students at more than 30 colleges and universities, “an efficient and reliable option” that, a government release claims, will “help Canada reduce its emissions and meet its climate targets.”
Le TGV va-t-il enfin s’emparer réellement de l’Amérique du Nord ? Après le lancement des travaux pour la ligne Vegas-LA aux États-Unis et la poursuite de l’interminable chantier LA-San Francisco, au tour du Canada de se lancer. Le gouvernement de Justin Trudeau serait sur le… pic.twitter.com/GW2cuY2p2X
— Théo Laubry 🇺🇸 (@TheoLaubry) October 29, 2024
“Good-paying construction jobs”
The chosen contractor is Cadence, a global large-infrastructure consortium that includes Montréal-headquartered CDPQ-Infra and consulting engineering firm AtkinsRéalis, and Paris-based Systra. Over 51,000 “good-paying construction jobs” will be up for grabs during the development, which in its initial phases will include detailed design, Indigenous consultations, land acquisition work, and environmental assessments.
Prime Minister Trudeau announced that Canada is developing a high-speed rail network spanning approximately 1,000 km and reaching speeds of up to 300 km/hour with stops in Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montréal, Laval, Trois-Rivières, and Quebec City. https://t.co/bQw6xnoBhy
— CanadianPM (@CanadianPM) February 19, 2025
Air Canada will also be part of the equation, working on multi-modal mobility. The government is putting $3.9 billion into the rail project over six years to support the co-development phase, in addition to the $371.8 million allocated in the government’s 2024 budget.
A mobility revolution
Passenger rail is less developed in North America than in Europe. While Canada does boast iconic long-distance train journeys, aboard, for example, The Canadian and The Rocky Mountaineer, they take days to cover the country and are subordinate to freight companies, who own the track, sometimes resulting in lengthy delays for customers.
But, announcing the new network, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “Canada is getting high-speed rail. Today’s announcement of Alto, a high-speed rail system between Toronto and Quebec City, will transform our economy – drastically shortening commute times for millions of Canadians, turbocharging economic growth, creating thousands of good-paying jobs, improving productivity, and reducing emissions. Montréal to Toronto in three hours – you can’t beat that.”
CDPQ Infra’s president and CEO, Jean-Marc Arbaud, described Alto as a “landmark project” that will “revolutionize mobility in Canada for future generations.”
The Canadian announcement of Alto comes at a time when the US Trump administration has cast doubt on California’s ongoing high-speed rail project. Amid controversial austerity measures in the US and after Trump called it the “worst-managed project” he’d ever seen, Transport Secretary Sean Duffy has called for a review of the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s work and threatened to withdraw $4 billion in federal funding.
