Steven Crombie, ORBA
Special to Northern Ontario Construction News
For Ontario’s construction industry, the case for modernizing Highway 11 and Highway 17 is no longer theoretical. It is practical, urgent, and economic.
These highways form the only continuous east–west land corridor across Northern Ontario. They support the movement of construction materials, aggregates, fuel, forestry products, manufactured goods, and food, while connecting remote communities to essential services. Yet the corridor remains highly vulnerable to closures caused by weather events, collisions, and congestion — failures that reverberate well beyond the North.
The cost of congestion to Ontario’s economy is estimated at more than $56 billion annually, and unreliable northern highways magnify that cost. When Highway 17 closes, there are no viable alternatives. For contractors and suppliers, that translates into missed delivery windows, idle equipment, workforce disruptions, and higher project risk.
From an industry standpoint, the solution is not simply incremental improvement. It is strategic designation.
A modern, resilient Highway 11–17 corridor should be formally recognized by the federal government as a nation-building project. Such a designation would acknowledge the corridor’s role in national trade, supply-chain resilience, and economic security — and, critically, unlock the scale and certainty of funding required to deliver it efficiently.
Federal designation would enable long-term planning, phased construction, and coordinated procurement across jurisdictions. It would allow projects to be bundled, timelines accelerated, and designs standardized for northern conditions, while maintaining flexibility for future expansion. For the construction industry, this translates into predictable pipelines, workforce stability, and better value for taxpayers.
This is not about overbuilding for today’s traffic volumes. It is about building infrastructure that can withstand climate volatility, support economic growth, and reduce Canada’s dependence on fragile corridors. A reliable east–west route across Northern Ontario strengthens national competitiveness and improves safety for the workers and communities that rely on it year-round.
Ontario has demonstrated that it can deliver large-scale infrastructure when the ambition is clear. What is needed now is federal leadership to match that ambition.
Designating the Highway 11–17 corridor as a nation-building project would send a clear signal: that Northern Ontario matters, that trade reliability matters, and that Canada is prepared to invest in infrastructure that serves the entire country.
Steven Crombie is the Senior Director of Public Affairs at the Ontario Road Builders’ Association (ORBA), where he leads advocacy on construction policy, infrastructure investment, and regulatory reform. Widely regarded as one of the industry’s proven thought leaders, he works closely with government, owners, and contractors to advance practical, buildable solutions that improve safety, project delivery, and long-term economic resilience across Ontario’s transportation network.