Information provided for reference as supplied to senior officials at Transport Canada on . It has not been updated since that date.

Transportation in Canada

Canada's vast land mass and widely dispersed population make an efficient and accessible transportation system particularly important to connect people and facilitate economic activity.

The multi-modal transportation system consists of a number of strategic assets and networks that span all regions of the country.

Air
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  • Over 1,400 air carriers operating in, or to and from Canada (40% Canadian, 60% international)
  • Nearly 37,000 Canadian registered aircraft and over 25,000 licensed pilots
  • 296 certified land airports, 5 certified water airports, and 264 certified heliports
  • 26 National Airports System airports and 71 regional/local airports
  • 89 airports designated for Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) security screening and 564 certified aerodromes
  • $31 billion in annual revenues generated pre-pandemic by the third largest aerospace sector in the world, creating over 215,000 jobs in Canada

Rail
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  • Canada has two major Class I railways, Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC); large US-based carriers also operate in Canada
  • 43,461 route-kilometres of railway track:
    • Canadian National (CN) owns 50.1% (21,774 km)
    • Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) owns 30.1% (13,082 km)
    • other railways own 19.2% (8,345 km)
  • Moved more than 315 million tonnes of freight in 2022
  • VIA Rail Canada Inc. carried 3.3 million passengers in 2022, below pre-pandemic levels, but increased from 2021

Marine
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  • Over 42,000 active registered commercial vessels, including 6,100 active tugs and barges operating in Canada
  • Close to 20,000 registered pleasure crafts
  • Over 560 port facilities, excluding fishing and recreational harbours, of which 17 are Canada Port Authorities (CPAs)
  • In 2022, across all CPAs, the total volume of cargo handled was over 339.7 million tonnes (a 1.3% decrease from 2021), with approximately 42% handled by the Port of Vancouver, Canada's largest and busiest port

Road
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  • Most dominant mode for moving freight and passengers in Canada
  • Over 25 million road vehicles registered in Canada
  • More than 1.1 million two-lane equivalent lane-kilometres of public road