Ontario Premier Doug Ford has penned a letter demanding further federal funding for several provincial resource and transit projects amid a still-hot trade war with the U.S.
The letter, sent Monday, urges newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney to support several infrastructure projects flagged as a priority for Ford and his Progressive Conservative government.
Ford noted five projects for which he wants further federal funding and partnership with Carney’s Liberal government, including all-season roads and electricity transmission lines to Ontario’s Ring of Fire, to ensure an “end-to-end” made-in-Canada critical mineral supply chain.
He also called for federal backing on nuclear energy infrastructure, a new northern seaport to bring Ontario goods to new markets, a controversial transit tunnel under Highway 401, and ” multiple new” GO Transit train lines in the Greater Toronto Area.
“Ontario is ready to work with federal, provincial and municipal partners to establish new energy corridors for pipelines, rail lines, transmission lines and other critical infrastructure necessary to get Canadian resources and energy to new and established refineries, as well as to new tidewater and, beyond it, new markets,” Ford said.
Many of Ford’s requests echo previous appeals for Liberal government funding or were outlined in Ford’s 2025 Ontario election campaign. However, the request for a new northern seaport is new.
Ford envisions a James Bay port that would “serve as a gateway to our northern seas to bring Canadian resources to new markets, helping to diversify Canada’s trade and reduce our reliance on the U.S.”
International ports fall under federal jurisdiction.
Specific figures on the scope and cost of the James Bay port have yet to be released, but in comparison, the 2023 construction of the Iqaluit Deep-Sea Port cost Nunavut approximately $84.9 million.
Ford has advocated for increased funding and partnership on most of these projects before the letter, including the Ring of Fire development, nuclear energy, infrastructure and transit projects.
Though operated by Metrolinx, which reports to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, the federal government has a history of funding GO Transit projects. During the latest Ontario election in February, Ford pledged to increase transit options in the Golden Horseshoe Region, in the GTA and in Toronto.
Ford is asking the federal government to help build multiple new GO passenger train lines, “dozens of new stations,” and “convenient connections” to existing transit systems in the region. According to the letter, the federal government has committed to participating in the Ontario government’s feasibility study, but Ford wants funding commitments.
Opposition critics have criticized Ford’s plan to build a driver-and-transit tunnel expressway under the 401. Detractors say the project could cost up to $100 billion, making it potentially the most expensive project in the provinces. Ford says that with the federal government’s help, the tunnels could “improve our economic competitiveness” by acting as a shipping route.
Dr. Shoshanna Saxe, a University of Toronto Associate Professor in the school’s Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering estimated the tunnel could cost approximately $1 billion per kilometre. Though Ford’s government hasn’t released information on the length of the project, Saxe estimates it could cost taxpayers $55 billion.
Ford also asked for federal support in building small modular and large-scale nuclear facilities and creating inter-and-intra-regional transmission lines. He said Canada needs to invest in energy infrastructure to “bring new generating capacity to market to achieve Canadian energy security, reduce emissions, and create new export opportunities with new jobs.”
The federal government has invested nearly $200 million into Nuclear projects primarily in Ontario over the last few years including fir research. In August 2022 for example, the Canada Infrastructure Bank committed $970 million for small modular reactors and in February 2024, the feds gave $50 million towards an assessment of “new generation opportunities” at the Bruce Power expansion in Tiverton, Ont.
Similarly, the federal government gave another $52.4 million towards the development and deployment of small nuclear reactors and Canada Deuterium Uranium reactors in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario.
Some on X are mocking the Ontario Premier, saying he “backed the wrong guy” and “should have picked his friends more carefully” in the federal election and that the list mostly aligns with Poilievre’s campaign promises.
This comes after Ford criticized Poilievre’s campaign in the middle of the election, prompting a Conservative MP to take shots at Ford on election night.