As the Ford government barrels ahead with a fresh feasibility study on whether a traffic-transit tunnel can be built under Highway 401, Ontario’s labour minister has already told a PC-friendly union that it would eventually benefit from the construction contract.
As part of the Fall Economic Statement, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy announced the government allocated $9.1 million to WSP Canada Inc. to study the project, including the length and potential cost of the congestion-relieving expressway.
While the feasibility study could take more than a year to complete, it appears the Ford government has already promised Ontario’s largest construction trade union that its members will be tunnelling under Highway 401.
The Labourers International Union of North America (LiUNA), which represents thousands of workers in the civil and residential construction sector, has endorsed the Progressive Conservatives in two successive elections and, in the most recent election, opened its training facility for Ford to make a campaign announcement.
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The union’s various locals across Ontario have also received a total of $21 million in provincial funding since Ford took office in 2018 for a variety of training, education and rehabilitation funds. The annual amount allocated to the union has steadily increased each year, according to the province’s data.
Less than two months after the Ford government was re-elected to a third majority mandate, Labour Minister David Piccini visited a membership meeting for LiUNA Local 183 to reiterate the government’s close links with the group.
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“I’m here with a heartfelt thank you from Premier Doug Ford and our PC government,” Piccini said at a podium. “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the support you gave us in the last election, thank you.”
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In a video of the speech, posted to Facebook, he added: “We’ll continue to support you and your members. We’ve got a tunnel we’re gonna build, and I know who’s going to build it. We’ve got Highway 413 to build and we can’t do it without you.”
The revelation comes as the Ford government weathers a new political controversy over the handling of the province’s $2.5 billion Skills Development Fund.
Ontario’s auditor general determined the process of awarding millions of dollars in training funding was “not fair, transparent or accountable” and that low-scoring applicants were routinely prioritized by Minister Piccini’s office.
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Global News has also revealed that directors of companies that received funding donated to the Progressive Conservative Party, as did a company implicated in a major palliative care supplies shortage.
The Toronto Star found that groups that endorsed the Progressive Conservatives received more than $200 million from the fund, while The Trillium reported the labour minister recently attended the wedding of a lobbyist, whose clients received millions from the fund.
Critics of the Ford government have called it a “circular economy” benefiting the Ford government and claim it amounts to evidence of a “quid pro quo.”
“Going out and promising a whole bunch of friends something so they’ll support you, so they’ll donate to you, that’s not how things are supposed to work,” said Liberal parliamentary leader John Fraser. “There’s no fairness.”
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Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner accused the government of “playing politics” with public infrastructure funding.
“That’s a waste of taxpayer money. The public interest, what’s good for everyday people, not wealthy, well-connected insiders, should drive public policy in Ontario,” Schreiner said.
In a statement to Global News, Piccini’s office didn’t shy away from the minister’s comments and said much of the government’s $200 billion capital infrastructure plan will be spent on Ontario workers and businesses.
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“This includes continuing to champion our highly skilled, world-class unions, like LiUNA, to build these generational projects such as the largest transit expansion in North America, the new Highway 413, and the Highway 401 tunnel — creating thousands more good-paying union jobs,” the statement said.
The minister’s office also said, government contracts follow a “fair and open procurement process” and that details of the 401 tunnel project will be shared with the public once a potential construction contract is awarded to “ensure transparency and accountability.”
When the government’s Highway 401 tunnel project will be ready for construction remains an open question.
Signing the $9.1 million feasibility study means the results of the work will likely be available sometime in 2027, although it is not clear what would happen next or how long it would take for shovels to go into the ground.
Elsewhere, Highway 413 has not begun major construction, either.
The government awarded its first two construction contracts in April 2025, but the Fall Economic Statement disclosed last week that only 90 per cent of design work was complete.
“Work is actively underway to acquire the necessary properties for highway construction and transitway protection,” the fiscal update said.
“In addition, the government is advancing early works construction projects to get shovels in the ground for this project, including an embankment at the Highway 401 and Highway 407 interchange, the Highway 10 resurfacing and underpass, and the Bovaird Drive underpass.”
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