Profile:
Chief Executive Office: Martin Imbleau
Chairperson of the Board of Directors: Rob Prichard
Board of Directors: Up to seven directors (including chair and vice-chair)
Operating Budget 2023-24: $51.67M
VIA HFR Inc.: $597.0 million in 2025-2026
- $551.8 million increase in funding compared to last year is due to additional funding from Budget 2024 and a 2025 off-cycle to continue the HSR project. This funding will support the Crown’s core and enabling activities and allow the project to complete the procurement phase and undertake its next phase: co-development
Main Estimates 2025-26:
VIA HFR - VIA TGF Inc. (Alto)
SUBJECT: High-Speed Rail
LOCATION: Ontario and Quebec, National
Issue/Source: Minister’s Committee of the Whole Appearance
Date: June 3, 2025
Suggested Responses
- VIA HFR - VIA TGF Inc. (Alto) is the Crown corporation mandated to support the High-Speed Rail (HSR) Initiative.
- In March 2025, the procurement phase of the project concluded with the selection of a private developer partner, Cadence, that will collaborate with Alto throughout the Co-Development Phase to develop and design the High-Speed Rai (HSR) Initiative.
- The 2025-2026 Main Estimates is seeking $597 Million ($595M in operating and $2M in capital) to support Alto and Cadence’s activities for the High-Speed Rail Initiative. The funds will cover activities for the co-development phase such as detailed design, impact assessments and land acquisition- related activities, stakeholder engagement, consultation with Indigenous organizations, and management of the HSR Initiative.
IF PRESSED
- Alto is an agent Crown corporation fully funded by parliamentary appropriations. It is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Transport.
- The High-Speed Rail Initiative aims to enhance clean, efficient, and safe travel, boosting the economy and fostering stronger ties with Indigenous communities.
- Following a competitive procurement process, Cadence was selected as the preferred bidder. Cadence is a consortium of world-renowned companies, led by CDPQ Infra, with expertise in the design, development, and operation of large-scale transportation infrastructure.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
- The High-Speed Rail Initiative is among the largest public-private partnerships ever sponsored by the Government of Canada. It proposes to build a 1,000+ kilometer intercity passenger rail network on mostly electrified track between Toronto and Quebec City, Canada’s busiest travel corridor. It is expected to transform intercity passenger rail.
- Alto is a relatively new Crown corporation, incorporated on November 29, 2022. As a Crown Corporation, it operates at arm’s length from the Government. Alto is a wholly-owned subsidiary of VIA Rail with a mandate to develop and implement the High Speed Rail (HSR) Initiative with a private sector partner (Cadence). The Project has successfully completed Phase 1 (Planning and Authority/Pre-procurement) and Phase 2 (Procurement).
- Co-Development of the project (Phase 3) commenced in March 2025, following the signature of the pre-development agreement between Alto and Cadence. During the Co-Development phase, Alto and Cadence will undertake engineering and design details, Indigenous consultations, land acquisition, community consultations, environmental assessments and seek regulatory approvals to advance the project so that a Final Investment Decision can be made by the Government of Canada.
- [ Redacted ]
- The government of Canada has allocated funding for the Initiative in recent years as follows:
- Budget 2021 allocated $495.6 million to VIA Rail and TC to implement targeted investments on VIA Rail’s current network, and to further de-risk the Initiative;
- Budget 2022 allocated $396.8 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, to Transport Canada and Infrastructure Canada to advance HSR through the Procurement phase of the project; and,
- In 2024-2025, $3.9 billion for the first six-year period of the Co-Development phase was publicly announced by the Prime Minister on February 19, 2025. This is in addition to the $371.8 million that was provided in Budget 2024.
- The early capital cost estimate for the network ranges from $60 billion (B) to $90B in 2024 dollars.