High-Speed Rail: Transforming the Ways We Travel and Develop

High-speed rail not only redefines the way we travel, it reshapes a country's economic development. 

Alto is expected to have a significant impact in Quebec and Ontario, as well as across the country, from construction through to post-commissioning.

The economic impact of high-speed rail in Canada

Whether or not they live along the Toronto–Québec City corridor, all Canadians will benefit from the country’s first high-speed rail project. Beyond mobility gains, it will help transform the economy, notably by growing the GDP and employment rate.

What is the GDP?

Gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure of the wealth generated in a country. It represents the total value of all goods and services produced across its territory during a given period—usually a year.

GDP is the main indicator of a country’s economic activity and economic growth is the measure of its development.

Studies carried out prior to the project predict an annual GDP uplift of 1.1% for Canada, which is equivalent to today’s value of 24.5 billion dollars. This is a huge contribution for one infrastructure project. To put it in perspective, Canada’s entire agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry contributes on average between 1.5% and 2% to GDP.

With an immense scale of construction over an estimated ten-year period, over more 50,000 jobs will be created in the fields of engineering, construction, urban planning, architecture, project management, information technology, law, finance, and more.

A growth-generating project for the whole country

Alto's economic impact will also be felt beyond construction.

In terms of tourism, for example, high-speed rail would generate economic benefits of around $800 million per year. The three-hour trip between Montreal and Toronto (or one and a half hours between Québec City and Montreal) will make it more convenient to travel within the country. Similarly, foreign tourists will be able to use the rail system to visit several cities during their stay. 

Additionally, high-speed rail will drive real estate investment, in growing communities within and surrounding the Corridor.  This well-documented phenomenon is known as transit-oriented development. Alto is expected to stimulate the construction of more than 60,000 residential units, which would contribute to property taxes.

Sustainable mobility as a savings driver

By fostering urban development, high-speed rail will redirect millions of travel routes to an electrified network that would otherwise be completed by car or on short-haul flights.

Reducing traffic congestion on our roads will also generate time savings worth $570 million. Improved fluidity across all modes of transport is one of the best productivity drivers.

International success stories: job creation in Japan and Spain  

In Japan, cities connected to the Shinkansen high-speed rail network saw a 25% increase in business service jobs within a decade thanks to the faster travel, convenience, and regional growth provided by this mode of transportation¹.

In Spain, the high-speed line between Madrid and Toledo built in the mid-2000s drove the growth of Toledo as a regional capital, with employment growth skyrocketing by 152% from 2000 to 2007 and by 231% in knowledge-intensive services (KIS)².

Knowledge-intensive services include legal services, accounting services, architecture, engineering and management consulting services, scientific and technical consulting, scientific research and development, and more.³

This is one of the reasons why high-speed rail systems are being developed or built in the United States, Australia, China, India, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere in the world. Worldwide, it’s estimated that nearly 20,000 kilometres of high-speed rail lines are under construction,⁴ not to mention those under development.

In Canada, such a network will help strengthen our competitiveness, boost our productivity, and create new opportunities for future generations.

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^{1.Jones et Fariha. All Aboard:The Benefits of Faster, More Frequent Passenger Trains between Ontario and Québec and The Costs of Delay.C.D. Howe, 2025. https://cdhowe.org/publication/all-aboard-the-benefits-of-faster-more-frequent-passenger-trains-between-ontario-and-quebec-and-the-costs-of-delay/}

^{2.“High-Speed Rail Opportunities Around Metropolitan Regions: Madrid and London,” Journal of Infrastructure Systems, December 2012. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263851488_High-Speed_Rail_Opportunities_around_Metropolitan_Regions_Madrid_and_London}

^{3.“L’utilisation des services à forte intensité de connaissances dans les PME manufacturières du Québec : Diagnostic des performances et déterminants de l’innovation (version abrégée)”[The use of knowledge-intensive services in Quebec’s manufacturing SMEs: Performance and innovation determiner diagnostic (abridged version)], 2012. Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS). https://espace.inrs.ca/id/eprint/4965/1/UtilisationServices_RapportCourt.pdf}

^{4."The length of the world’s high-speed rail network has grown by a third since 2020”, 2023. Railway Supply. https://www.railway.supply/en/the-length-of-the-worlds-high-speed-rail-network-has-grown-by-a-third-since-2020/}