Federal budget promises legislation to accelerate Alto high-speed rail project

By Canadian Press on November 5, 2025.

MONTREAL — The federal budget promises new legislation to accelerate development of the Alto high-speed rail project.

Tabled Tuesday, the budget says legislative changes will streamline approvals and reduce regulatory uncertainty for the planned high-speed rail line between Toronto and Quebec City.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced in September that the government would speed up engineering and regulatory work on the project to get construction underway within four years.

The project, announced in February, would take passengers from Montreal to Toronto in just three hours on trains travelling up to 300 kilometres an hour.

The budget also says Alto will be subject to Ottawa’s new “Buy Canadian Policy,” meant to ensure the government uses domestic suppliers.

It says students, highly educated people and middle-income households are most likely to use the high-speed rail line.