October 11, 2025 - On Oct. 8, Cycle Toronto was awarded the “2025 National Cycling Advocate of the Year” by Velo Canada Bikes in a ceremony in Ottawa attended by Members of Parliament and Senators across the political spectrum. The award recognizes our historic legal victory defending Charter rights against arbitrary and reckless legislation.
On Oct. 9, it faced its first test as Ontario’s Minister of Transportation, Prabmeet Sarkaria, announced that Ontario will proceed with reconfiguring approximately 500 metres of Bloor Street West at an expected cost of $750,000. The project will still maintain protected bike lanes with “precast barrier curbs and bollards that will separate the lane from vehicle traffic” and will be “consistent with the court’s ruling.”
Cycle Toronto members were essential to powering this movement and making these victories possible.
Join the movement here.
Let’s be clear: Ontario’s intent to move ahead with this scheme remains a performative waste of taxpayer money and provincial resources. Cycle Toronto didn’t challenge this government’s right to waste taxpayer money or pursue hare-brained schemes. Those are issues for the ballot box.
We fought and we won to protect people from an arbitrary and reckless increase in risk of harm and death which engages the right to life and security of the person in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice by removing protected bike lanes.
The government knows that any pointless lane reconfigurations will not address traffic congestion:
The advice provided to the government, both before and after Bill 212 was passed, was that the removal of the target bike lanes to restore a lane of motor vehicle traffic will not achieve the asserted goal of the legislation, as it will not reduce congestion.
The government knows that removing protected bike lanes will put people’s lives at risk:
While this application arises from the factual context of bicycle lanes, legally the case is about the validity of a law passed by the government. The government has the right to make decisions about roads and traffic infrastructure, but where the government takes action that puts people at risk, and does so arbitrarily, its actions may be restrained by the Charter.
Read the ruling here.
This fight isn’t over. Ontario is appealing, with a hearing now scheduled for January 28. Minister Sarkaria ominously vows this is only the “first step.” Premier Ford continues to rail against “the most ridiculous decision I’ve ever seen.” The shadow of Bill 212 has the City of Toronto caught in paralysis, delaying cycling projects (like yesterday’s Sheppard Avenue decision) and deferring to regulatory clarity from a province with no interest in providing it.
Your support will matter more than ever in the weeks, months, and years ahead. Will you join today?
And together, on the one-year anniversary of Bill 212 on Tuesday, October 21, we’ll tell Ontario that streets are for people and that our rights are not negotiable: Find out more here.
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