Both roads were intended as bypasses, going around populated areas instead of through them (the highways 11/27 and 2 which they replaced were Main Street in nearly every served community) and therefore initially had few services.

In 1999 Scott's was acquired by John Bitove's Obelysk Inc and the highway centers were sold to HMS Host Marriott in 2005.

Shortly thereafter the government of Ontario tendered all 17 highway centres to rebuild and operate on a new long term contract.

[5] On June 13, 2019, HMS Host announced the sale of all 23 ONroute centres to Arjun Infrastructure and Fengate Asset Management.

[6] Arjun is a British company which is the minority shareholder in the similar Welcome Break chain of motorway service areas in the United Kingdom, while Fengate is a Canadian asset management firm.

While each location offers a different selection of fast food providers, all locations feature a Tim Hortons together with some combination of A&W, Big Smoke Burger, Brioche Dorée, Burger King, Cinnabon, East Side Mario's Pronto, Extreme Pita, KFC, Taco Bell, Mr. Sub, New York Fries, Pizza Pizza, PurBlendz, Starbucks, Swiss Chalet, Wendy's or Yogen Früz outlets.