Ontario Court of Appeal rules Ford government can remove Toronto's 19 kilometres of protected bike lanes

Ontario's top court has cleared the way for the Ford government to remove protected bike lanes from three of Toronto's busiest streets. On Friday, the Court of Appeal for Ontario ruled 3-0 that the province has no constitutional obligation to regulate road use in any particular way — reversing a lower-court decision made just over one year ago.

The affected bike lanes span 19 kilometres across Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue. In July 2025, Justice Paul Schabas ruled that removing them would breach the Charter right to life and security of the person, because the removal would increase risk of harm and death to cyclists. The province appealed that decision.

Friday's ruling by a three-judge panel found no such constitutional duty. "The legislature is free to legislate to remove a bicycle lane from a road — indeed, it may remove a road entirely — without implicating the Charter," the court wrote.

Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria called the decision "a victory for common sense." The government has argued that bike lanes should exist only on secondary roads, not at the expense of vehicle lanes on the city's busiest streets. Sarkaria cited Ontario's congestion costs: the government says gridlock costs the province's economy more than $56 billion annually.

Cycling advocates immediately vowed to continue fighting. Venetia Jones, a spokesperson for environmental law group EcoJustice, said in a statement: "The facts on the ground have not changed. Removing protected bike lanes on Bloor Street, University Avenue, and Yonge Street puts people at risk, and the Ford government's own internal documents confirm it."

Michael Longfield, executive director of Cycle Toronto, disputed the government's traffic argument. "I want to be clear that bike lanes do not cause traffic congestion," he said. "Removing them will put people's lives at risk."

The law empowering the province to remove the lanes passed Queen's Park in 2024, but the infrastructure remained on Toronto's streets after Cycle Toronto and others challenged it legally.