(Cyclists riding up University Ave during our Victory Rally last summer. Photo: Joshua Best)
TL;DR: the bike lanes are still here, but it remains a waiting game.
(Current as of June 17, 2026. Check back, this could change fast.)
To recap: Almost a year ago in July 2025, a superior court judge agreed that the forced removal of 19 km of protected bike lanes in Toronto was arbitrary (because it would not reduce traffic congestion) and reckless (because it would put people's lives at risk). The judge found the bike-lane removal provisions in the Ontario government's Bill 212, Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024, in violation of Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and not saved by Section 1. Internal government documents revealed in court contracting the stated claims about the legislation were key to our win.
The bike lanes were saved.
The legal challenge was launched in December 2024 by Cycle Toronto and our co-applicants, Eva Stanger-Ross and Narada Kiondo, who were represented by lawyers from Ecojustice and Paliare Roland. (The City of Toronto had no official role in the case.) The province called an early election in March 2025, and although it won another majority, the Etobicoke-Lakeshore MPP who was a driving force behind the legislation lost her seat.
The province appealed, and the hearing before a panel of three judges took place in January 2026. To quote a lawyer familiar with the case, the decision "could be tomorrow, could be next week, could be anytime until the end of July, though if they want to rag the puck for longer than that, I'm good with it!"
To double down on this bad-faith culture war, the government also passed Bill 60, Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025, another piece of omnibus legislation that further restricts municipalities from building future bike lanes that require removing car lanes. Our case wasn't arguing for a constitutional right to bike lanes, just that this specific removal was arbitrary and reckless, so win or lose, it has no legal impact on future bike lanes. Repealing Bill 60 will require a vote in the provincial legislature.
The premier has also been cagey about whether or not he'd invoke the nuclear option of Section 33 to override your Charter rights. Ontario has previously invoked the Notwithstanding Clause three times, in 2018, 2021, and 2022, but each instance was either struck down by the courts or revoked by the government. Overriding the Charter for the sake of bike lanes would be an unprecedented overreach.
