The line will be roughly 400-kilometers long and run between Thunder Bay and Wawa.
Ontario Energy Board Spokesperson Vanda Wall says a company has been chosen to begin the initial design as well as the environmental assessment and land acquisition.
Wall says this doesn't mean the line is being built, but that they can start the development work.
That stage is expected to last 18-months.
Iain Angus is the Chair of the Common Voice Northwest Energy Task Force, and says the selection of a company is great news for the region.
However, fellow co-chair Larry Hebert says Ontario planners are fixated on the needs of southern Ontario and aren't taking into account the needs of the North and First Nations.
