Construction work on the Hazel McCallion LRT in Mississauga is expected to wrap up in early 2028, Global News has learned, setting the stage for the line to enter the testing phase roughly two years from now.
Building work on the 18-kilometre, 19-stop light rail route between Port Credit and Steeles Avenue began in 2020 and was originally supposed to be completed in 2024.
Issues with the consortium building the project mean that large portions of the track for the project still haven’t been laid, while intersections on Hurontario Street are currently undergoing major work.
Last week, the City of Mississauga and its councillors were given a closed-door update on the progress of the project, which will eventually also include a loop through the downtown and an extension deep into Brampton.
Sources confirmed to Global News that Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay indicated to the city that his agency is now working to complete construction on the initial route by the spring of 2028.
That target date does not include either the loop or the extension.
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A presentation on the agenda for a Mississauga council meeting on Wednesday references LRV final acceptance, complete systems integration testing, revenue service demonstration and substantial completion for the project. It does not include dates.
A spokesperson for Metrolinx would not officially confirm the date.
“As with all transit projects, a final completion date will be announced after the systems integration milestone is successfully complete and we enter the Revenue Service Demonstration phase to thoroughly test the system as though it were operating regular service with passengers,” they wrote in a statement.
“As we progress through completing this project, we will continue to update local Councillors, elected officials and the community on this project.”
The competition date would come before more extensive testing on the route and revenue service demonstration — stages which added months to the timelines for both the Finch West and Eglinton Crosstown LRTs before they opened in Toronto.
Lindsay explained in February that those experiences had made the agency cautious about offering more concrete opening dates.
“One of the lessons that we learned from the Eglinton Crosstown … was increasingly speaking in respect of ranges as to when service is going to arrive on these types of projects,” he said of the Ontario Line.
“What we’ve just lived through on Eglinton and Finch shows us that when civil infrastructure is complete on a complex transit project like this, we still need to test and commission the system to make sure that it works.”
The delays to completing the line come as the consortium building it struggles through legal spats with the construction companies it has hired to do the work.
Mobilinx Hurontario was awarded a $4.6-billion contract in 2019 to design, build, finance and operate the line for 30 years.
Mobilinx has faced legal challenges in both Toronto and Brampton over the alleged failure to return equipment, pay rental fees and square up a $2.7-million bill with another subcontractor.
Last year, S&P Global lowered the credit rating for Mobilinx to triple-B “due to persistent schedule challenges.”
Among the issues cited in the credit rating report was the lack of progress on track work.
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