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The province of Ontario has approved the Toronto City Council’s transit plan that includes light-rail projects.

The approval includes timelines for the projects, which are designed to ease congestion and create “thousands of jobs,” Ontario officials said in a prepared statement.

The light-rail transit (LRT) projects include the:

•    Eglinton Crosstown LRT from Black Creek to Kennedy Station. Work is under way and will be completed by 2020.
•    Scarborough RT replacement and extension to Sheppard Avenue. Work is slated to begin in 2014 and be completed by 2020.
•    Finch West LRT from the Toronto-York-Spadina Subway extension to Humber College. Work is slated to begin in 2015 and be completed in 2020.
•    Sheppard East LRT from Don Mills station to east of Morningside Avenue. Work is slated to begin in 2017 and be completed by 2021.

Public transit investment is part of the province’s plan to strengthen the economy, Ontario officials said. The province has committed $8.4 billion toward the transit plan, which the Toronto City Council approved in March 2012.