Ontario's Worst Roads for 2026, Ranked
CAA just ranked Ontario's worst roads for 2026. Four made the cut in Toronto, and three of them run straight through the neighbourhoods where we teach.
Greeny Your G1 Companion
Published June 4, 2026 · 6 min read
On June 4, CAA released its 2026 Worst Roads list, the results of a public vote that has run every spring since 2003. Barton Street East in Hamilton took the top spot for the third time. The bigger story for us is closer to home: four of the ten worst roads in the province are in Toronto.
Three of those four, Steeles Avenue East, Sheppard Avenue West, and Bathurst Street, run right through the North York and York Region areas where we teach. Our students drive them every week. Here is what made the list, why potholes drove the vote this year, and how a new driver actually handles roads like these.
Ontario's 10 Worst Roads for 2026
The full provincial top 10, as voted by the public. The four Toronto roads are highlighted. Source: CAA Worst Roads results.
| Rank | Road | City |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barton Street East | Hamilton |
| 2 | Hurontario Street | Mississauga |
| 3 | Notre Dame Avenue | Greater Sudbury |
| 4 | Sider Road | Fort Erie |
| 5 | Steeles Avenue EastToronto | Toronto |
| 6 | Sheppard Avenue WestToronto | Toronto |
| 7 | Panache Lake Road | Greater Sudbury |
| 8 | Bathurst StreetToronto | Toronto |
| 9 | Unwin AvenueToronto | Toronto |
| 10 | 6th Line | Innisfil |
The GTA Roads That Made the Cut
The fourth Toronto road on the list, Unwin Avenue, sits in the Port Lands and is not somewhere most new drivers spend time. The other three are a different story. They are daily-driving roads in our service areas, and each one tests a different skill.
Steeles Avenue East
Steeles Ave E at Ashcott
Borders North York, Markham, Thornhill, Richmond Hill, and Vaughan
Steeles is the dividing line between Toronto and York Region, so it carries commuter and truck traffic from both sides all day. The lanes are wide, the speed picks up between lights, and transport trucks heading to the industrial pockets near Victoria Park and Kennedy chew up the surface fast. For a new driver the hard part is doing all of it at once: holding a lane beside a transport truck, timing the long signals, and spotting a pothole early enough that you never have to swerve for it.
Driving lessons in Markham
Sheppard Avenue West
Sheppard Ave W at Jane
Sits on G2 road test routes out of the Downsview DriveTest centre
Sheppard West cuts through Downsview, which is where our North York students take their G2 road test. That puts this road on a lot of real test routes. Years of transit and utility work have left the surface patched and uneven, and the merges near Allen Road and the 401 come up quickly. This is a road worth practising before test day, not discovering on it.
Read our Downsview G2 road test guide
Bathurst Street
Bathurst St at Cedarcroft
Runs through Bathurst Manor, Royal Orchard, and Thornhill Woods
Bathurst runs the length of the city and keeps going north through Bathurst Manor, Thornhill, and into Vaughan. In our service areas it is older, narrower, and lined with parked cars and frequent lights. Freeze and thaw cycles crack the surface every winter, so the ride is bumpy and the curb lane collects the worst of it. New drivers tend to drift wide to dodge a pothole here, which is exactly the moment they need to check the lane beside them first.
Driving lessons in ThornhillWhy Potholes Took Over the List This Year
Last year the loudest complaint was traffic congestion. This year it flipped. After a hard freeze-and-thaw winter, potholes became the number one issue voters flagged across the province.
The numbers back it up. In CAA's pre-campaign member survey, 87 percent of respondents pointed to potholes and 88 percent flagged cracked pavement as the problems they run into most. Toronto crews filled more than 54,000 potholes by early March alone, and pothole-damage claims from residents jumped 47 percent over the same stretch last year.
"Last year was a little more on that congestion side, but we're seeing that pothole has become the major issue for this year."
Brian Pirvu, CAA South Central Ontario
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow put it more bluntly during the city's spring pothole blitz, describing some of them as big enough to "eat your tire." For an experienced driver that means a repair bill. For a new driver it means a road surface that punishes hesitation, and that is worth understanding before you are out there on your own.
How New Drivers Should Handle These Roads
You cannot avoid Steeles, Sheppard, or Bathurst forever, and you should not try to. The goal is to drive a rough, busy road calmly instead of reacting to it. Six habits do most of the work.
Look far ahead, not at your hood
Spotting a pothole three seconds out gives you time to check your mirrors and ease around it. Spotting it one second out leaves you with a bad choice.
Do not swerve on reflex
A sudden swerve into the next lane is far more dangerous than the pothole itself. If you cannot move over safely, slow down and roll through it straight with both hands on the wheel.
Ease off the gas before the bump
Braking right as you hit a pothole compresses the front suspension and makes the impact worse. Come off the throttle early, then let the car settle as you roll over it.
Keep extra following distance
The extra space is what lets you see the road surface the car ahead is hiding from you until the last second.
Pick a lane and stay in it
On a road like Steeles, constant lane changes around trucks cause more trouble than the potholes do. Settle into a lane and hold it.
Practise the tough roads with someone beside you
Driving Steeles or Sheppard West for the first time alone, in rush hour, is how good habits fall apart. Run them with an instructor first.
Learn These Roads With Someone in the Passenger Seat
The fastest way to get comfortable on Steeles, Sheppard, or Bathurst is to drive them with an instructor who knows them. Our private lessons run across North York and York Region, at your pace, on the roads you will actually use.
How CAA Builds the List
The Worst Roads campaign is a public vote, not a government inspection. CAA has run it every spring since 2003. This year nominations were open from March 24 to April 17, and anyone could take part: drivers, cyclists, transit riders, and pedestrians. You vote on the issues you see, from potholes and congestion to faded lane markings and poor signage.
Once voting closes, the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario reviews the top results to validate them. The point of the exercise is leverage. When a road lands on the list year after year, it tends to move up the repair queue, which is why the campaign matters beyond the headlines.
If a road near you is in rough shape, you do not have to wait for next year's vote. Toronto residents can report a pothole to 311, and York Region municipalities have their own service portals. It is the same instinct we try to build in new drivers: notice the road, then do something about it.
Worried about potholes wrecking your car is one thing. Worried about how points land on your record is another. Our Ontario demerit points guide breaks down what actually costs G1 and G2 drivers their licence.
Frequently Asked Questions
CAA named Barton Street East in Hamilton the worst road in Ontario for 2026, its third time on top. The provincial top 10 includes four Toronto streets: Steeles Avenue East (5th), Sheppard Avenue West (6th), Bathurst Street (8th), and Unwin Avenue (9th).
Four Toronto roads made the provincial top 10: Steeles Avenue East, Sheppard Avenue West, Bathurst Street, and Unwin Avenue. Three of them, Steeles, Sheppard West, and Bathurst, run directly through the North York and York Region areas where Greenhorn teaches.
It is a public vote held each spring. Drivers, cyclists, transit riders, and pedestrians can nominate any road for issues like potholes, congestion, faded markings, or poor signage. CAA has run the campaign since 2003, and the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario validates the final top 10.
Potholes. After a hard winter, potholes overtook traffic congestion as the number one issue voters flagged this year. Toronto alone filled more than 54,000 potholes by early March.
Look far ahead so you see hazards early, avoid reflex swerving, ease off the gas before the bump rather than braking on top of it, and keep extra following distance so the car ahead is not hiding the surface from you.
