The Ontario Government has officially opened Canada’s first High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, which will help manage congestion for commuters.

The HOT lanes have been opened on 16.5km of the Queen Elizabeth Way highway in both directions, from Trafalgar road in Oakville to Guelph Line in Burlington.

Vehicles with two or more occupants can travel in the lanes for free, while drivers of single-occupant vehicles have to apply to purchase a permit.

"Vehicles with two or more occupants can travel in the lanes for free, while drivers of single-occupant vehicles have to apply to purchase a permit."

In August, Ontario received more than 3,400 applications for HOT lanes permits and a random draw was used to allocate 500 permits for the first term, which runs from 15 September to 31 December this year.

The project will run for up to four years and will support the planning of a more efficient highway network.

As part of the pilot project, the Government of Ontario issued a Request for Information (RFI) for innovative technologies to support tolling, compliance and performance monitoring of HOT lanes.

The RFI supports Ontario's innovation sector by providing an opportunity to test emerging traffic management and tolling technologies.

The government plans to invest about C$160bn ($121.5bn) to improve the public infrastructure over the next 12 years.

The investment is expected to support 110,000 jobs every year across the province, with projects such as hospitals, schools, roads, bridges and transit.

The investments are part of Governments economic plan to build Ontario up and deliver on its number-one priority to grow the economy and create jobs.