Speed limits increase to 110 km/h on some highways in Ontario

The Ford government is increasing speed limits on parts of some Ontario highways.

The speed limit will permanently increase from 100 km/h to 110 km/h on 10 additional sections of provincial highways in northern and southern Ontario, Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation, announced today in Hamilton.

This follows speed limit increases of 110 km/h on six sections of provincial highways in 2019, which were made permanent in April 2022.

The change aligns with posted speed limits in other jurisdictions across Canada.

“Most of Ontario’s highways were originally designed to safely accommodate speed limits of 110 km/h and the data from our changes in 2022 shows they do just that,” said Sarkaria. “These evidence-based increases are a common-sense change to make life more convenient for Ontario drivers while bringing our highway speed limits in line with other Canadian provinces.”

Starting July 12, the speed limit will be permanently raised to 110 km/h on most of the following provincial highway sections, with the remainder coming into force before the end of the year.

Highway 401:

• At Tilbury, extending the existing 110 km/h zone further east by seven km
• From Highway 35/115 to Cobourg (approximately 35 km)
• From Colborne to Belleville (approximately 44 km)
• From Belleville to Kingston (approximately 66 km)
• From Highway 16 to the Quebec boundary (approximately 107 km)

Highway 403:

• From Woodstock to Brantford (approximately 26 km)
• From Brantford to Hamilton (approximately 14.5 km)

And Highway 406 from Thorold to Welland (approximately 13 km), Highway 416 from Highway 401 to Ottawa (approximately 70 km), and Highway 69 from Sudbury to French River (approximately 60 km) are reportedly going to see speed increases.

All highway sections were selected based on their ability to safely accommodate higher speed limits. Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan have a maximum speed limit of 110 km/h, while in British Columbia, the maximum speed limit is 120 km/h.

Stunt driving penalties will continue to apply at 150 km/h. On the highway sections with increased speed limits, stunt driving penalties will apply at 40 km/h over the posted speed limit.

Ontario raising speed limits on some highways, including parts of Hwy.401 pic.twitter.com/VSavTSBUvK

— 401_da_sarpanch (@401_da_sarpanch) April 24, 2024

Lead photo: Adam Moss

Editor’s note: This story was updated with the official announcement at 9:30 a.m.