Ontario Line subway cost has spiralled out of control and now reaches $34B

The Ontario Line subway will now cost taxpayers at least $34 billion, Metrolinx's CEO confirmed on Tuesday.

The 15-stop, 15.6-kilometre subway route through the heart of Toronto was promised as a silver bullet to the city's transit woes when first announced in 2019. The province hyped the project up with a projected $10.9-billion price tag and an opening as early as 2027.

Seven years later, that cost has tripled, and the province can't even share a vague estimate for an opening timeline.

Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay dropped the bombshell Tuesday morning during a press conference to announce the awarding of a $4.32 billion contract for a three-kilometre section of tunnel and a pair of stations — increasing the current price tag to a staggering $34 billion.

Lindsay noted that "we lived in a different world with respect to major capital project delivery" when Premier Doug Ford initially pushed the line forward over seven years ago.

The Metrolinx CEO specifically pointed to supply chain "shocks" and the current economic threats posed by the U.S. trade war, but defended the cost of the project.

"I can tell you that the direct costs of every single item on the Ontario Line are competitively bid," said Lindsay, stressing that Metrolinx "progressively develop[s] these projects with our partners precisely because we want to have that kind of line item scrutiny on the costs."