Ontario’s Transportation Minister is defending the government’s commitment to improving road safety in northern Ontario.

The NDP, the Ontario Truckers Association and others have long called for highway upgrades and stepped-up enforcement.

Prabmeet Sakaria says more inspectors are being hired, especially for northern Ontario.

“We actually put forward a concerted effort to hire from the north and to engage more individuals in the North for the specific reasons of keeping our northern highways safer,” says Sakaria.

“We hired over 50 new officers out of 98 from the north for the north.”

He adds MTO inspectors conducted about 126,000 inspections in 2025, with another 70,000 already conducted this year.

Rail passenger service to other parts of northern Ontario is also being looked at by the Ford government.

The Northlander passenger train service is expanding this year to parts of northeastern Ontario.

Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sakaria says a further expansion is not out of the question.

“We’re going to work with our team at the Northlander to look at those opportunities,” says Sakaria.

“Minister (George) Pirie (Ministry of Northern Economic Development and Growth) has been spearheading this with our team, as well as identifying tracks that we potentially use in the future.”

Sakaria offers no timetable as to when or if service could be possible.