Ontario to remove tolls on part of Highway 407, make gas tax cut permanent

Ontario drivers are set to benefit from the province's upcoming budget as the Ford government announced Tuesday that it will make a gas tax cut permanent and remove tolls from the provincially owned portion of Highway 407.

Ford promised those moves during the provincial election and says they will mean real and immediate relief for people.

The government temporarily cut the provincial gas tax rate by 5.7 cents and diesel by 5.3 cents in July 2022 and has repeatedly extended the cuts since then.

Ford announced today that Thursday's budget will contain a measure to make the cut permanent, keeping the provincial rate of tax at nine cents per litre.

As well, the budget will permanently remove tolls from the provincially operated Highway 407 East, from Pickering to Clarington, Ont.

The Ford government's latest measure does not address earlier calls from the Green Party and advocates to subsidize tolls on Highway 407. During the provincial election earlier this year, Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles pledged to get rid of tolls on the 407 for all drivers if elected premier. 

A Ministry of Transportation report in 2021 projected those tolls would generate the province around $72 million in revenue in 2024-25.