Here's what's happening with Toronto's $5.6 billion Yonge North Subway Extension

It may not be the transit project everyone is talking about these days, but Metrolinx's upcoming Yonge North Subway Extension is shaping up to be a vital connection to and from suburbs north of Toronto.

The approximately eight-kilometre extension will add five stations to the TTC's Line 1 for a price tag of around $5.6 billion, extending service from the current northeast terminus at Finch Station north into Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill.

It's a long-awaited (if not somewhat scaled-back) infrastructure investment for the northern 'burbs, but news has been sparse since the last contracts were inked.

The last significant update came when a Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued for the Yonge North Subway Extension tunnelling work in late 2023. That contract was expected to be awarded in late 2024, but there has been no substantial news on the project since the RFP was issued now well over a year ago.

Metrolinx

News on the project has indeed slowed to a trickle as much attention is placed on other higher-profile transit investments further along in their construction. However, that doesn't mean that things aren't progressing.

Despite the gap in big announcements, much has been going on with the project behind the scenes.

Utility relocation, groundwater management, geotechnical investigations, tree inventory, archaeological assessments and environmental assessment works have all progressed in 2024, and these early stages of preconstruction continue to advance in the New Year.

Most recently, Metrolinx issued community notices regarding ground investigation works in Royal Orchard Park, as well as utility work that will soon commence on Thornridge Drive and Yonge Street between Old Jane Street and Elgin Street.

This utility work, which will last from January 30 until May 1, 2025, will involve the closure of multiple lanes and cause minor traffic disruptionns in the area, as well as noise from the hours of 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily.

It's not the big tunnelling job most are waiting for, but these steps lay critical groundwork for the heavier construction on the horizon.

The province had previously targeted the extension for completion between 2029-2030, though these dates do not appear on any current Metrolinx pages for the project as of 2025. 

But even before heavy construction begins, the extension has already begun to foster a wave of vertical growth along the core of Yonge Street north of the current terminus, including a high concentration of towers planned in the Yonge and Steeles area.

Regardless of when construction is finally complete, the TTC will have a wildly different-looking subway map in the years to come.