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Ontario provincial highway 401, also known officially as the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway, is a freeway that runs across southern Ontario, Canada. It is the longest 400-Series Highway in Ontario, and one of the busiest highways in the world.

Highway 401 begins at Highway 3 in Windsor, Ontario (not at the Michigan border), and ends at the Quebec border in Eastern Ontario, 815 kilometres away. There are 18 service station oases located along the route, allowing motorists to access services without leaving the highway. A plaque was erected at the Ivy Lea oasis, where the freeway was completed, stating that the 401 is the longest non-toll freeway under a single highway authority in North America. (The Texas section of Interstate 10 holds this record today.)

The section through Toronto quickly became an urban commuter road, rather than a long-distance bypass route as was originally planned, leading to extensive traffic jams. This problem was solved to some extent by implementing an express/local set-up similar to the new Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago. By 1967 the highway had been widened from four lanes to 12 or more through Toronto and Mississauga. Today the entire 401 through the Greater Toronto Area varies from 10 to 20 lanes, and the stretch between MississaugaMississauga ( 2001 population 612,925, with an estimated population of over 680,000 in 2004) is a city in Peel Regional Municipality, west of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A part of the Greater Toronto Area, Mississauga is Canada's sixth largest city. It is a and Brock Road in PickeringPickering ( 2003 population approximately 92,000) is (as of 2003) a city located east of Toronto in Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. The town is well known for the Pickering nuclear power plant, and the adjacent OPG 7 commemerative turbine. Several other m is thought to be the world's longest continuous highway having 12 or more lanes. An extensive plan is currently underway by the Ministry of Transportation to widen the highway to at least six lanes for its entire length and to extend the 12-lane express/local system as far west as GuelphGuelph ( 2003 population 115,872, metropolitan population 138,975) is a city located in southwestern Ontario, Canada, roughly 100 kilometres west of downtown Toronto. One of the first planned communities in Canada, Guelph was founded on St. George’s Day,.

Major freeway junctions are located at Highway 402, Wellington Road and Highbury Avenue in LondonLondon is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada with a population of about 381,267; its metropolitan area has a population of about 447,286 ( 2002). It was settled in 1826 and established as a city in 1855. London and the surrounding area (roughly, the t, Highway 403, Highway 8, Highway 6, Highway 407, Highway 410, Highway 427, Highway 27, Highway 400, Allen Road and the Don Valley ParkwayThe Don Valley Parkway (often referred to as the "DVP") is a controlled-access highway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, so named because it runs through the Don River Valley. Construction of the DVP was completed in the early 1960s at a time when Toronto had in TorontoFor alternate meanings of Toronto, see Toronto (disambiguation). City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada (in detail) (in detail) Motto: Diversity Our Strength Area: 641 sq. Distance East to West: 43 km. Distance East to West: 21 km. Population Total (2001) Cdn., Highway 404, Highway 35/115, and Highway 416; Quebec Autoroute 20 continues the highway at its eastern end. There are no direct interchanges with U.S. Interstate highwayThe Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways commonly called the interstate highway system is a network in the United States of interstate highways or simply interstates . Nearly every interstate highway is a controlled-acces, but Interstates 75 and 375 in Detroit, Michigan, and Interstate 81 in New York State, are each a few miles away, via Ontario highways 3, the former 3B, and 137 , leading respectively to the Ambassador Bridge, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, and the Thousand Islands Bridge.

In 1965 Premier John Robarts named the highway the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway, in honour of Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir George-Étienne Cartier, two of the most important Fathers of Canadian Confederation.

Today it is considered North America's busiest highway, with an estimated Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) over 425,000 in 2004, near the interchange with Highway 400. Due to its triple use as the main trade, commuting and recreational corridor in Ontario, many days spike well beyond the 500,000 level. The just-in-time inventory systems of the highly integrated auto industry in Michigan and Ontario have made the highway into the the busiest truck route in North America. The 401 also includes the continent's busiest multi-structure bridge at Hogg's Hollow in Toronto (4 structures for the highway's 4 roadway beds).

Highway 401 westbound, in Scarborough

To manage traffic, the MTO installed the COMPASS Freeway Traffic Management System , the most advanced of its kind in the world when it was deployed in 1991. Using a combination of CCTV cameras, vehicle detection loops and LED changeable message signs, the MTO Traffic Operations Centre can get a real-time assessment of traffic conditions and alert highway travellers of collisions and construction.

The 401 is one of the most important highways in Canada, as it connects the majority of populous southern Ontario with Quebec and Michigan, plus most other major highways in Ontario. The highway also serves as the principal connection to Montreal and points east, becoming Autoroute 20 at the Quebec border. The border crossing at Windsor and Detroit is the busiest trade crossing in the world, and although the 401 itself does not extend the last few kilometres into Detroit, it is the only route from Toronto to Windsor. Some 40% of Canada-US trade travels the highway, which is 1/3 of Canada's foreign trade, and 4% of the all US foreign trade. The 401 and the nearby QEW (Canada's 2nd biggest trade corridor) carry so much US trade that the highways and their US gateways in Niagara and Detroit are considered the most important strategic infrastructure in Canada by the US intelligence community. This status may make them the most likely terrorist targets in Canada. Effective crippling of this infrastructure could single-handedly implode the Canadian economy and likely push the US economy into recession.

Cities along the route of the highway include Windsor, Chatham, London, Woodstock, Kitchener, Cambridge, Guelph, Mississauga, Toronto, Oshawa, Cobourg, Belleville, Kingston, Brockville, and Cornwall.