The Eglinton Crosstown LRT project (Ontario, Canada) has been selected as the project that will receive funding from the Ontario's green bond program to be launched in the coming weeks.

The bond program is expected to be up to CAD$500 million in size. Ontario will make the first green bonds available through its current dealer group to Canadian and international institutional investors to help establish a Canadian-dollar green bond market and attract new investors.

Ontario's green bonds are part of the government's plan to invest in people, build modern infrastructure and support a dynamic and innovative business climate.

The Crosstown project consists of a 19 kilometre corridor, with a more than 10 Km underground portion, and it will have  25 stations and stops, linking to bus routes, three subway stations and various GO Transit lines. The project will be an integrated system consisting of stations, trackworks, signaling, communications and other required infrastructure.

In late December 2013 Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario issued a request for proposals to the consortia pre-qualified to develop the Eglinton Crosstown LRT Project. The consortia that are involved in the tender process are the following:

• Crosslinx Transit Solutions: SNC-Lavalin, ACS Infrastructure Canada, EllisDon, Aecon, Dragrados Canada, and IBI Group.

• Crosstown Transit Partners: Fengate Capital Management Ltd., OHL Concesiones S.A., STRABAG Inc, Bechtel Development Company, Inc., and Obayashi Canada Holdings, Ltd.

The winning consortia will be selected to design, construct, and finance the project's construction, as well to maintain the stations and trackwork over a 30-year period.

The Eglinton Crosstown LTR represents a CAD$5.3 billion (2010) transit improvement investment.

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT will provide environmental benefits to the region and is the largest transit expansion project in Toronto's history.

Steven Del Duca, Minister of Finance, commented:

This green bond investment demonstrates that our government is making progress on the province's largest public transit construction project in more than half a century. The new Eglinton Crosstown LRT will help advance economic development, provide environmental benefits to the region and move commuters across the city quickly, reliably and conveniently.