What to know
- Brad Bradford has pledged to make the Scarborough East LRT his top transit priority and get construction underway by 2030.
- Olivia Chow’s campaign has not provided a specific construction date, instead tying the start of construction to securing provincial and federal funding.
- Chow’s campaign says Toronto will have $377 million set aside for the project by the end of 2026.
- In April, Chow moved a motion making the LRT Line the city’s top transit priority and added $10 million to accelerate design work.
Toronto mayoral candidates Brad Bradford and Olivia Chow are both promising to get the long-promised Scarborough East LRT built, but they are offering voters different timelines for when construction could begin.
Bradford has pledged to have “shovels in the ground” on the Eglinton East LRT by 2030 if elected.
In a Sept. 7 campaign release, Bradford said the line would be his top transit priority and promised to personally lead a funding push to the provincial and federal governments within his first 100 days as mayor.
“The plan exists. The route is drawn. The environmental assessment is done,” Bradford said in the release, arguing that what is missing is a mayor willing to secure the funding needed to move the project forward.
The proposed 18.6-kilometre line would run from Kennedy Station through eastern Scarborough to Malvern Town Centre, with a stop serving the University of Toronto Scarborough.
Chow’s campaign, meanwhile, has not committed to a specific year for construction to begin.
In a statement to Now Toronto, spokesperson Zeus Eden said Chow would “secure support from the federal and provincial government to build the Scarborough East Rapid Transit Line and get shovels in the ground.”
Eden said Toronto will have $377 million set aside for the project by the end of 2026, adding that the city has enough to pay its share.
“When the province and federal government come to the table, we can ready to put shovels in the ground immediately,” Eden said.
That leaves a notable difference between the candidates; Bradford is promising a specific construction-start date, while Chow’s campaign is tying the start of construction to securing funding from the other levels of government.
In April, Chow moved a motion at Toronto City Council to designate the Scarborough East LRT as the city’s top transit priority.
The motion increased spending this year by $10 million to accelerate design work, committed further funds as part of Budget 2027, and asked city staff to continue building the case for intergovernmental investment.
