CUTA urges government of Canada to accelerate baseline stream of Canada Public Transit Fund to 2025 federal budget

The Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) is urging the government of Canada to accelerate the baseline stream of the Canada Public Transit Fund to the 2025 federal budget, warning that waiting until 2026 will exacerbate a growing crisis in aging transit infrastructure across the country. The Canada Public Transit Fund, which was launched July 17, will invest C$30 billion (US$21.9 billion) during the next 10 years to expand public transit and make it more accessible across the country. The investment is the largest public transit investment in Canadian history.

CUTA says that without action, service disruptions will become more common, leading to increased costs and safety risks for Canadians. 

“Public transit is not a luxury – it’s a lifeline,” said  CUTA’s President and CEO Marco D’Angelo. “We are already seeing the consequences of deferred maintenance and chronic underfunding, with service interruptions and safety concerns threatening the reliability of systems Canadians rely on every day.”

CUTA points to Montreal’s metro as a stark example. The system, constructed in the 1960s, now faces a repair deficit of more than C$6 billion (US$4.36 billion), requiring an investment of C$560 million (US$407 million) annually to prevent further deterioration. According to CUTA, recent emergency closures along the Blue Line underscore the urgent need for investment. In 10 years, service interruptions caused by infrastructure failures have increased by 133 percent while equipment reported to be in critical condition has surged by 300 percent during the past five years. 

In April 2023, structural issues had already forced the closure of Montreal’s Green Line tunnel, disrupting service for 90,000 riders. Since then, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) had warned that such events were likely to happen again due to insufficient capital investment for state of good repair. 

CUTA says the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) also faces a growing state of good repair backlog, with more than $900 million in unfunded needs each year. Without accelerated funding, the association notes challenges could become more frequent and more severe across the country.  

In November 2023 at the 2023 CUTA conference and transit show, transit stakeholders in Canada from public transit agencies and supporting businesses renewed their call for the government of Canada to move up the start date of the Permanent Public Transit Fund (PPTF) to 2024 instead of 2026. In February 2023, CUTA urged the government of Canada to introduce a C$500 million (US$370 million) component of the fund in the 2024 budget and to open intake and funding commitments in 2024 for the remainder of the fund, ahead of the program’s planned 2026 start date. In March 2024, TTC, TransLink and STM backed the association in asking the government of Canada to launch the PTF two years ahead of schedule to help the agencies address growing pressures on their systems. 

“Investing in transit infrastructure is not just about addressing maintenance needs – it’s about protecting the daily commutes of millions of Canadians and preparing for the population growth and climate challenges of the future,” D’Angelo said. “We can’t afford to wait for another emergency closure to force our hand. We need to act now to keep Canada moving.”