In May 2009, funding was approved by the provincial and federal governments. In December 2010, Toronto mayor Rob Ford cancelled the line, along with the rest of Transit City, in favour of constructing underground subway lines. However, in March 2012, Toronto city council re-instated the Sheppard East LRT at a special city council meeting. In 2016, it was reported that the line had been indefinitely deferred and would possibly be replaced by a competing proposal to extend Line 4 Sheppard. In April 2019, Ontario premier Doug Ford announced that the provincial government would extend Line 4 Sheppard to McCowan Road at some unspecified time in the future, replacing the proposed Sheppard East LRT.