Ontario Raising Highway Speed Limits

It’s a contentious issue across the province. The Ontario government is raising the speed limit permanently from 100 km/h to 110 km/h on 10 additional sections of provincial highways in northern and southern Ontario. In a news release, the province states that the change builds on the safe and successful increase to six sections of provincial highways in 2022 and aligns with posted speed limits in other jurisdictions across Canada. The permanent increase in speed from 100km/h to 110km/h will cover 36 per cent and 860 kilometres of Ontario’s highway network.

Starting July 12, 2024, 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:

Hwy 401, Tilbury, extending the existing 110 km/h zone further east by 7 km
Hwy 401 from Hwy 35/115 to Cobourg (approximately 35 km)
Hwy 401 from Colborne to Belleville (approximately 44 km)
Hwy 401 from Belleville to Kingston (approximately 66 km)
Hwy 401 from Hwy 16 to Quebec boundary (approximately 107 km)
Hwy 403 from Woodstock to Brantford (approximately 26 km)
Hwy 403 from Brantford to Hamilton (approximately 14.5 km)
Hwy 406 from Thorold to Welland (approximately 13 km)
Hwy 416 from Hwy 401 to Ottawa (approximately 70 km)
Hwy 69 from Sudbury to French River (approximately 60 km)

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.

“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 Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation. “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.”

In 2019, the Ontario government launched public consultations and a pilot program to explore opportunities to safely increase speed limits on select Ontario highways. Of the over 8,300 people who responded to the survey:

61% feel comfortable driving at speeds higher than the posted limit of 100 km/h
29% adjust their speed according to the driving conditions
fewer than 10% of the respondents declared that they feel most comfortable driving around the posted speed limit of 100 km/h
1% feel most comfortable driving below 100 km/h
When asked about the posted speed of 100 km/h on Ontario’s 400 series highways, almost 80% of the respondents think 100 km/h is too slow.

In 2022, the government permanently increased the speed limit on six sections of provincial highways in southern Ontario as well as two sections in northern Ontario on a two-year trial basis.

The speed limit was raised to 110 km/h permanently on the following sections of provincial highways beginning April 22, 2022:

Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) from Hamilton to St. Catharines (32 km)
Highway 402 from London to Sarnia (90 km)
Highway 417 from Ottawa to the Ontario / Quebec Border (102 km)
Highway 401 from Windsor to Tilbury (39 km)
Highway 404 from Newmarket to Woodbine (19 km)
Highway 417 from Kanata to Arnprior (41 km)
Highway 400 from MacTier to Nobel (60 km)
Highway 11 from Emsdale to South River (41 km)

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.

705BLACKFLY.COM constantly monitors social media posts from law enforcement across the province. Here are just some posts about speeding and stunt driving from the OPP on X on April 23-24.

APRIL 23

OPP North East Region @OPP_NER

#OPP #SudburyTIME stopped a motor vehicle for speeding on Highway 69, #FrenchRiver. Two people, both 31 y/o from Mississauga were arrested and charged with weapons and drug related offences. ^rl

OPP North West Region @OPP_NWR

A 43-year-old individual from #MineCentre is facing stunt driving charges after travelling 103 km/h in a posted 60 km/h zone in Terrace Bay. The driver also faces an additional charge of failing to have their motor vehicle equipped with an ignition interlock device. ^ae

APRIL 24^TH

OPP North East Region @OPP_NER

#SudburyTIME charged a 39 y/o driver from #Barrie for #speeding and stunt driving, on #Hwy69. The vehicle was traveling 153 km/h in a posted 100 km/h zone. The vehicle was impounded for 14-days and the driver received a 30-day suspension. ^rl

#NthldOPP conducting traffic enforcement and stopped this vehicle for 157 km/h on

#Hwy401 WB in Hamilton Township. A 22-year-old from Brighton was charged with

#stuntdriving and given a future court date. 30-day licence suspension and 14-day impound also. Please slow down. ^jc

OPP Highway Safety Division @OPP_HSD

Thanks to the citizens who called to report this high speed driver on Tues evening. #407OPP stopped the driver going 209 kph at #Hwy407 WB/Bathurst. Male, 18 yo from Toronto charged #StuntDriving #CarelessDriving #NoInsurance.

#30DayLicenceSuspension #14DayVehicleImpound ^nm