a. Road Safety Statistics

October 2025

1 - Federal regulations for truck licensing

• Commercial vehicle safety is a shared responsibility among federal and provincial/territorial (P/Ts) governments and owners/operators.

• Under the Motor Vehicle Transport Act (MVTA), TC is responsible for certain operational matters (e.g., hours of service rules) relating to commercial vehicles (transit buses, motor coaches, trucks) that cross P/T boundaries and the Canada-U.S. Border. Provinces and Territories (P/Ts) are responsible for their own intra-provincial regulatory frameworks for motor carrier operations, as well as the enforcement of federal motor carrier regulations. P/Ts are also responsible for driver licensing, vehicle registration, rules of the road, and road maintenance. 

• Transport Canada works with the provinces and territories to advance a consistent, national approach to commercial motor vehicle safety through the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA). This includes administration, oversight and maintenance of the National Safety Code (NSC) for Motor Carriers (https://ccmta.ca/en/publications/national-safety-code/national-safety-code-single-standards), which sets out a number of operational safety standards for commercial vehicles (the NSC currently includes a set of 16 standards). 
• With respect to licensing, as explained above, P/Ts are responsible for driver licensing, vehicle registration, and permits. TC does not issue any license or registration to the trucking industry. 

2 - Information on trucking accidents in Canada broken down by year for the last 10 years

• There are ~1.3 million commercial motor vehicles in Canada, supporting internal trade between provinces and territories and accounting for just under one-fifth of Canada's annual GDP, or $370 billion (StatsCan).
• Approximately 20 % of those vehicles are federally regulated commercial vehicles and they accumulate the most kilometers per year.
• Key contributing factors to commercial vehicle collisions include inattention (e.g., driver fatigue and driver distraction), high-risk driving (e.g., speeding).
• From the NCDB, there were 377 fatalities resulting from collisions involving a commercial motor vehicle in 2023, representing a:
  • 3.3% decrease of fatalities from 2022 (390)
  • 1.3% decrease of fatalities from 2018 (382)
  • 6.5% decrease of fatalities from 2013 (403)
• The National Collision Database (NCDB) does not distribute collisions by type of cargo. Transport Canada maintains national collision statistics that are based on data provided by the provinces and territories. However, accident reports are a matter of provincial, territorial and municipal jurisdiction and are usually provided by police services. Data for calendar year 2023 is the most recent national data that Transport Canada can provide.

3 - Information on programs that TC has for safety and improvement for trucking accidents

• TC continues to work with P/Ts through the CCMTA to strengthen commercial motor vehicle safety, including but not limited to:
  • Monitor and support the implementation of the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate (e.g., amendment of the CCMTA ELD Technical Standard, update and implementation of ELD certification testing and implementation, etc.);
  • Support the regular review cycle for the National Safety Code Standards pertaining to commercial vehicle safety (commitment to the Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety);
  • Support Safety Fitness Certificate model discussions and recommendations to the Council of Ministers
  • Support commitments and deliverables from the July 15-16 “Hackathon”.
• Continue active engagement with Trucking Industry and with US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
• Monitor developments in the US concerning commercial vehicle Safety (e.g., English language proficiency, etc.).