Ontario Northland Transportation Commission

On March 23, 2012 the Province announced that it was beginning the process of selling the business lines operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC). The government believes these services can be delivered more efficiently and effectively by the private sector.

The ONTC is a Crown agency of the Province of Ontario with headquarters in North Bay. The transition board of directors has a mandate to develop a new business model to provide support for essential transportation services in northeastern Ontario.

New Approach

The divestment process seeks to:

• ensure the ongoing operation of the Polar Bear Express service as well as bus service to communities currently served only by the ONTC
• divest commercially valuable assets such as rail freight, rail refurbishment and Ontera telecommunications
• begin the process of cancelling the Northlander train service that runs between Toronto and Cochrane, to be replaced with enhanced bus service
• tender bus services for other operators to service existing bus routes
• consolidate the ferry service between Moosonee and Moose Factory with other provincial ferry services

Services

While the divestment takes place there will be no immediate changes to ONTC services, which include:

• passenger train service between Toronto and Moosonee
• freight rail services between North Bay and Moosonee
• passenger and parcel bus service between Toronto and Hearst
• ferry service between Moosonee and Moose Factory
• telecommunications services to communities across northeastern Ontario
• rail car refurbishment

The government remains committed to ensuring that northern communities and industries benefit from a viable, efficient and sustainable transportation system. As details about the divestment process become available, they will be provided on the MNDM and ONTC web sites.

Information Links

Ontario Northland, including a message from ONTC Chair Ted Hargreaves.

Ministry of Northern Development and Mines news release and Minister Bartolucci’s statement from March 23, 2012.