Transportation in Canada 2021

Road system

 
Image description: Road Transportation Network

The map of Canada shows the location of the National Highway System (NHS). The NHS includes over 38,000 kilometers of Canada’s most important highways from coast to coast. Core routes (which represent 72.8 per cent of the NHS) are illustrated by orange lines, Feeder routes (which represent 11.7% of the NHS) by Yellow lines and Northern and Remote routes (which represent 15.5 per cent of the NHS) by purple lines.

Key traffic and volume statistics

Road transportation is the primary mode for moving both freight and passengers across Canada. Canada is connected from the Pacific to Atlantic coasts by a network of highways, anchored by the Trans-Canada Highway. Canada also has extensive road networks across the southern, more populated areas.

In 2019, 25.4 million road motor vehicles were registered in Canada, up 1.4% from 2018 and 16.4% from a decade ago. Around 92% were vehicles weighed less than 4,500 kilograms, mainly passenger automobiles, pickups, SUVs, and minivans, 4.4% were medium and heavy trucks weighing 4,500 kilograms or more, and 3.3% were other vehicles such as buses, motorcycles and mopeds.

As of December 2021, there were 128,935 trucking businesses. 51,114 of these companies had employees and 77,821 didn’t. The trucking industry includes many small for-hire carriers and owner-operators, and some medium and large for-hire companies that operate fleets of trucks and offer logistic services. Trucking companies are mostly located in Ontario (46.8%), Quebec (15.4%), Alberta (14.8%), and British Columbia (11.3%).

Infographic - Canada's Road System
Image description: Road Transportation infographic

In 2017, Canada’s National Highway System (NHS) had over 38,098 lane-kilometres, including:

  • 72.8% classified as “core” routes
  • 11.7% classified as “feeder” routes
  • 15.5% classified as “Northern and remote” routes

Canada also had

  • More than 1.13 million two-lane equivalent lane-kilometres of public road in Canada
  • Ontario, Québec, Saskatchewan, and Alberta account for over 75% of the total road length
  • Approximately 40% of the road network is paved