Premier Doug Ford Permanently Expands 110 km/h Speed Limits Across Ten 400-Series Highway Corridors

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria announced on Monday that the provincial government is permanently increasing the statutory speed limit to 110 km/h across ten additional sections of the 400-series highway network, encompassing more than 860 kilometers of major transport corridors.

The permanent changes follow multi-year safety and traffic flow assessments conducted by the Ministry of Transportation, which demonstrated that modern freeway engineering, vehicle braking technologies, and electronic variable signage safely accommodate the higher threshold while improving freight efficiency.

Key Highway Corridors Included The updated speed limits will take effect on designated rural and semi-urban stretches across southern, central, and eastern Ontario, including:

• Highway 401: Stretches from Tilbury to London, and from Cobourg to Colborne.
• Highway 402: Full commercial corridor between London and Sarnia.
• Highway 404: Northern extension between Newmarket and Woodbine Avenue.
• Highway 416: Entire route connecting Highway 401 to Ottawa.
• Highway 417: Eastern and western approaches outside the Ottawa urban transit core.
• Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW): Hamilton to St. Catharines bypass.

"These highways were engineered decades ago to safely handle higher speeds, and our successful pilot programs proved that aligning posted limits with actual traffic flow reduces aggressive lane-changing and keeps commercial traffic moving," Premier Ford said during a press conference in Mississauga. "Our government is committed to getting drivers out of gridlock and helping businesses get their goods to market faster."

Safety Audits and Enforcement Measures Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria emphasized that the speed limit adjustments are paired with strict enforcement measures for commercial heavy vehicles, which remain legally restricted to a maximum speed of 105 km/h under mandatory speed-limiter legislation enacted in the Highway Traffic Act.

"Road safety remains our highest priority," Sarkaria stated. "Our engineering teams conducted thorough reviews of pavement condition, sightlines, interchange spacing, and collision history before finalizing these designations. Stunt driving thresholds will remain strictly pegged at 40 km/h over the posted limit on these highways."

The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) and the Ontario Trucking Association issued statements supporting the permanent policy, noting that standardized freeway limits reduce speed differentials between passenger vehicles and long-haul commercial logistics carriers.