Katie Koopman is a co-lead for Save South Frontenac, a citizen-led advocacy group. She holds a protest sign along the Cataraqui Trail in Glenburnie, Ont., where high-speed train tracks could possibly go through?Kaja Tirrul/The Globe and Mail
The federal government’s multibillion-dollar plan to build a high-speed rail connecting Toronto to Quebec City is facing pushback from some residents in Eastern Ontario who warn it will damage the environment and affect their way of life.
While some are excited by the project, being developed by Alto, a federal Crown corporation, many are raising concerns. The megaproject is expected to face a final approval decision from the federal cabinet in 2029 and is estimated to cost between $60-billion and $90-billion.
Katie Koopman, a co-lead for Save South Frontenac, said her citizen-led advocacy group wants the project slowed down so that consultations can be done properly and a better solution can be found.
“We are not against innovation, but we are for the preservation of the beautiful things that we are never going to get back if they are ripped up,” she said in a recent interview.
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Information released earlier this year for public consultation shows two options for linking Peterborough and Ottawa – a northern route and a southern route – with no additional stops planned between those two cities.
Ms. Koopman said that the proposed southern corridor would run right through her community, potentially using trails or hydro corridors close to her house.
While Ms. Koopman said her land is not expected to be expropriated, the properties of her neighbours could be. The train could also run through the Frontenac Arch biosphere, she said, which is a UNESCO-protected site.
“When we are talking about a high-speed train that’s running 1,000 kilometres between the middle of Scarborough and Quebec City – spanning two provinces with 12-foot-high fences on either side – you are talking about severing communities from essential services, and we’re also talking about severing really important wildlife migration patterns,” she said.
She argues that the government could take a fraction of the high-speed rail project’s cost and instead invest it into VIA Rail to improve reliability.
The Cataraqui Trail consists of farmland, woods, lakes, and wetlands that advocacy groups are trying to protect.Kaja Tirrul/The Globe and Mail
Since the project was introduced in 2025 in its current form, some have become resigned to it proceeding. But many residents along the proposed routes remain concerned about its impact. Others are looking for ways to stop the project or at least push it to a new route along the Highway 401 corridor.
The proposed system would run trains up to 300 kilometres an hour along a 1,000-kilometre stretch with stops in Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, Laval, Trois-Rivières and Quebec City. Travel time between Toronto and Ottawa would be about two hours, and about 90 minutes between Montreal and Quebec City.
Alto’s website says the project will create about 51,000 construction jobs, and boost Canada’s GDP by 1.1 per cent annually, along with benefits related to tourism revenue, decongestion and time savings.
Mario Zanth, the mayor of the city of Clarence-Rockland and warden for the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, said the project would require a sealed right-of-way with no rail crossings, forcing major changes for municipalities.
That could mean relocating paramedic stations and fire halls without clear compensation, he said.
“I am begging for funding for infrastructure. I’m begging for funding for social and affordable housing. And I am told there is no money. Magically, $100-billion pops up,” he said. “We know that this $100-billion train is nowhere near going to be what that’s going to cost.”
He said taxpayers would be on the hook for costs associated with the project, which he said many residents of his rural area would not be able to afford to use. “It brings nothing but headaches, zero benefits. I don’t want it,” he said.
At the very least, he says the train should run alongside Highway 401, an idea that Ontario Premier Doug Ford has backed. “We do not want this here,” he said.
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Alto officials say the existing VIA route from Toronto to Kingston is too built up for high-speed rail expansion. That corridor would continue to offer passenger rail at traditional speeds under the proposed plan.
Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen, whose riding includes the city of Kingston, said that 11 years ago, when he was a rookie MP, he spoke to Marc Garneau, then transport minister, about the virtues of high-speed rail, which he still sees as a boon for Kingston.
“This has been a very long process. Having said all of that, I’ve never seen the amount of movement on this that I have seen in the last five to six months,” Mr. Gerretsen said.
Still, he is mindful of opposition to the project. “I see some people saying, ‘Oh my God. They are going to expropriate my land at the end of March when the consultation is over.’ And then I hear other people say stuff like, ‘Oh my gosh. It’s never going to be built,’” he said.
He is urging everyone, across the spectrum, to make their views known to Alto through the consultation process it has established.
“Now is the time to have your voice heard,” he said.
Mr. Gerretsen supports routing the line along Highway 401 to reduce rural disruption.
Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson also backs that idea. His city council passed a motion, in February, calling for a high-speed rail stop in Kingston, since the city is a major Eastern Ontario hub with postsecondary institutions, health care centres, a national-defence presence with CFB Kingston and significant tourism to generate demand.
“I’m very empathetic to their positions,” he said of critics. “That’s why we are pushing for the rail line along the 401 corridor because I think a lot of the opposition and concern from the rural communities in our region melts away when you look at running the high-speed rail line along the 401 corridor.”
Alto is conducting consultations with affected communities. It recently extended the online public consultation period until April 24 because of strong interest and participation.
“Feedback from the consultations will help us refine the alignment and make decisions on the station locations based what we hear from communities in terms of how they use the areas in and around the corridor,” Alto spokesperson Crystal Jongeward said in a statement, adding rural communities are particularly concerned about land and environmental effects.
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Conservative MP Michael Barrett said the high-speed rail project is a red-alert issue in the Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands-Rideau Lakes riding he has represented since 2018.
“When I go to a hockey rink or I go to a grocery store or I go to a community event, this is the leading, if not only issue, I am hearing about,” Mr. Barrett said. “These folks feel like this is being forced on them.”
Mr. Barrett is concerned about the impact of the rail line being built along the proposed southern corridor on environmentally sensitive land.
He said there should be a vote specifically on the project in the House of Commons.
Liberal MP Emma Harrison, who represents the riding of Peterborough, said that while landowners are concerned that their land may be affected or expropriated, there is also optimism around the project.
People who have children with disabilities have told her the high-speed rail would improve access to health care, while seniors have told her that it will give them more commuting options after Greyhound Canada suspended its operations in 2021..
The office of federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said it supports the project, but is attentive to the process of gathering public feedback.
“The federal government remains committed to ensure that the consultation process led by Alto is credible and accessible, and that local parties are treated equitably and consistently throughout the process,” said the statement issued by Marie-Justine Torres.
“Any final routing decisions will reflect consultations with landowners and local communities.”
Koopman said that the proposed southern corridor would run right through her community.Kaja Tirrul/The Globe and Mail
Overall, Ms. Koopman said she chose to live in South Frontenac for a reason.
“It’s beautiful where we live, it’s quiet, it’s peaceful. A lot of our life is in Kingston, and so to be removed from the hustle and bustle of a city is a very worthwhile choice for my family,” she said, adding her community works hard to preserve nature in the area.
“It is heartbreaking to think that the very things we love may not be here in 20 years.”