Province boosting Highway 401 speed limit from Kingston to Prescott
On the heels of this week’s federal announcement that Kingston will now be considered as a stop along the proposed Alto High Speed Rail line, the city got more news about speed.
The provincial government announced that starting Friday, Jun. 26, 2026, more provincial highway sections will have their speed limits increased.
This includes an approximately 105-kilometre-long section of Highway 401 in eastern Ontario, between Kingston and Prescott, where the speed limit will increase from 100 km/h to 110 km/h.
Most of Highway 416, the route known as the Veterans Memorial Highway that connects Highway 401 (near Prescott) to Ottawa, is already posted at 110 km/h.
In 2024, the speed limit on Highway 401 was raised to 110 km/h between Belleville and Kingston.
The government said boosting the speed limit on more provincial highways will improve travel times for commuters.
“Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is helping get drivers where they’re going faster and safely,” said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Ontario’s Minister of Transportation, in a news release dated Wednesday, Jun. 24, 2026.
Sarkaria claimed that increasing the speed limit will shave about half an hour off travel time when driving from Toronto to Ottawa.
“We’re going to keep supporting commuters, workers and businesses by investing in our $31 billion plan to build and expand roads and highways, so we can get people and goods moving across Ontario and keep workers on the job,” he said.
A section of Canada’s busiest highway, between Colborne and just west of Kingston, is already posted at the 110 km/h limit.
Additional highway sections between Toronto and Colborne will also see the speed limit increased as of August 31, 2026 — leaving the entire 401 stretch with the higher 110 km/h limit.
But it’s not just 401 sections getting faster limits.
In total, the province is raising the speed limit from 100 km/h to 110 km/h on an additional 983 kilometres of provincial highways by the end of this summer, according to the government’s news release.
As part of the announcement, Premier Ford posted a video on his social media accounts with himself and Sarkaria standing beside a highway speed limit sign, believed to be taken in the Toronto area.
“By the time this increase is fully implemented at the end of September, nearly 89 per cent of the provincial highway network will be at a 110 km/h. That’s up from just 43 per cent from today,” said Premier Ford in the posted statement.
Currently, 873 kilometres of provincial highways are posted at 110 km/hour.
Later this summer, sections of other highways outside this region, including the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) and Highways 400, 401, 402, 403, 416 and 417, will get the higher speed limits.
The government claimed the highways can handle it.
“Speed limit increases are only implemented on highways that have been designed and engineered to safely accommodate higher speeds, following rigorous technical reviews and any necessary infrastructure improvements,” said the release.
“Most of Ontario’s freeway network was originally designed to safely accommodate a posted speed of 110 km/hour.”
As more provincial highways shift to higher speeds, the government has noted in the past that stunt driving penalties will continue to apply at 150 km/h.