Preface

As Minister of Transport, I am pleased to present Transportation in Canada 2022, which provides Canadians with an overview of their transportation system at work.

As the world entered year three of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada continued to implement numerous measures aimed at keeping Canadians safe. These were adjusted over the course of the year according to advice from public health experts and the latest science.

As activity in Canada’s aviation sector ramped back up, the government took steps to ensure that the travel delays and frustrations previously experienced by many people during the summer and winter holiday seasons would be minimized. Notably, the Air Passenger Protection Regulations were updated to include new refund requirements for flight cancellations or lengthy delays outside of an air carrier’s control. The government also continued its investment in Canada’s airports. This took the form of initiatives such as the Airports Capital Assistance Program (ACAP), the Airport Critical Infrastructure Program (ACIP), and the Airport Relief Fund (ARF). These initiatives provided funds for projects and equipment that maintained or improved safety, helped build or rehabilitate infrastructure, or gave financial relief to airports still struggling with the effects of the pandemic.

The multi-billion-dollar National Trade Corridors Fund, meanwhile, continued to fund a wide range of infrastructure projects aimed at improving the strength and resiliency of our supply chain. Following a successful Supply Chain Summit in January 2022, I established a task force to consult with industry experts and make independent recommendations. These were detailed in the task force’s final report, released in October last year, and included proposals to ease port congestion, address labour shortages, establish a federal Supply Chain Office, protect border crossings and gateways from disruption, and develop a national transportation supply chain strategy.

Related to this, the government also tabled Bill C-33, the Strengthening the Port System and Railway Safety in Canada Act. This is aimed at modernizing how marine and railway transportation systems operate in Canada—helping remove systemic barriers, creating more fluid, secure, and resilient supply chains.

With regard to rail transportation, the government is working hard on the Lac-Mégantic bypass project, so the trains can be re-routed out of the downtown. Additionally, this year saw further steps toward the creation of a High Frequency Rail corridor stretching from Quebec City to Toronto, with a study also looking at ways to extend it even further, to communities like Windsor and across southwestern Ontario. High Frequency Rail will be Canada’s largest infrastructure project ever and will create jobs for the next decade. It will also feature more frequent and reliable service and a greener rail system using electrified technology, offering passengers improved connectivity between cities and with other modes of transportation.

In the maritime sector, 2022 saw the completion of yet another successful shipping season along the St. Lawrence Seaway—a critical part of our national infrastructure and supply chain, which moves billions of dollars in cargo annually. Last year also featured the completion of the Ports Modernization Review, which will improve the governance of Port Authorities across the country. In April, we welcomed the long-awaited return of cruise ships to Canadian ports and announced strict environmental measures for wastewater on cruise ships that exceed international standards.

In July, the government announced funding for nine more years of the Oceans Protection Plan, which is improving marine safety, increasing protections for our marine species and ecosystems, advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, and strengthening how Canada prevents and responds to marine incidents. These results are being accomplished by working closely together with Indigenous Peoples, coastal communities, the marine industry, scientists, and stakeholders.

Finally, as we look toward a greener future, the government continued its efforts to make zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) more affordable—thereby reducing pollution, creating more well-paying jobs, and building a cleaner world for generations to come. For instance, we expanded the incentives for Zero Emissions Vehicles Program, and announced over $500 million for a program to help Canadian businesses and organizations make the shift to medium and heavy-duty ZEVs. A further $75.8 million has been allocated to the Zero Emission Trucking Program to accelerate the safe deployment of medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles through: research; deployments; funding to support guideline, code, standard and regulatory development; and capital investments at Transport Canada’s Motor Vehicle Test Centre to undertake testing and evaluations of new and emerging zero emission vehicle technologies. Canadians, in turn, are buying more electric vehicles than ever, exceeding sales targets and helping to put us all on the right road ahead.

In closing, that’s a lot of projects completed and underway. That’s because our transportation network is so vast and varied—but also because we’re always looking for ways to improve it. Canadians deserve no less.

Sincerely,

The Honourable Omar Alghabra, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Transport

The Canadian transportation network faced significant challenges in 2022 and had to adapt to the rapidly changing demand, geopolitical events, and disruptive weather events.

During the first half of the year, there was strong demand for consumer goods sourced from Asia, but the network was affected by disruptive events such as the Omicron variant, constrained labour capacity, and the recovery from the November 2021 atmospheric river in BC, leading to longer end-to-end transit times for imported containers. In the second half of the year, the Canadian transportation system recorded rebound in volumes for certain bulk commodity exports, notably driven by Canadian grain production, and demand for energy products. Meanwhile, the demand for containerized import goods softened due to the cooling of economic conditions.

Containerized throughput decreased by 2.1% at the four largest Canadian container ports in 2022 compared to 2021. Non-containerized throughput decreased by 0.5% at these ports, with the Port of Montréal seeing an increase of 9% and the Port of Vancouver experiencing a slight decrease due to dry bulk, including grain and forestry products.

Rail traffic remained slightly below 2021 levels (-0.7%). Overall, bulk commodities slightly decreased in 2022 compared to 2021 (-0.5%), largely related to softer grain volumes in the first half of the year owing to a small crop size from the 2021-2022 crop-year. Rail traffic growth was recorded for bulk in the last two quarters, respectively 4.9% in Q3 and 7.2% in Q4, mainly driven by a strong demand for export bulk commodities such as the new crop of grain, auto and potash.

In 2022, truck border crossings decreased by 1.6% overall compared to 2021 and remains slightly below pre-pandemic levels (-2.5% compared to 2019). Border crossings remained fluid throughout 2022 and became slightly more fluid following the lifting of all COVID-19 border measures as of October 1st. At most border crossings, wait times stayed slightly below the 3-year average in 2022.

The COVID-19 pandemic, particularly emerging variants, continued to pose a challenge to all modes of passenger transportation throughout 2022. Although passenger ridership has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, recovery compared to 2021 was strong. The air industry served 72 million passengers on domestic services compared to 24 million in 2021. Additionally, the cruise industry re-emerged in Canada following a ban on cruise ships entering Canadian ports which ended in early 2022, with 2.2 million passengers taking part throughout the year.

Overall, domestic transport-related greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 11.0% from 2010 to 2019 but decreased by 14.0% from 2019 to 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While emissions in the marine sector have lowered, all other modes experienced increases. The road sector makes up 84% of these emissions, and despite improvements in fuel efficiency, emissions increased due to growths in both passenger and freight activity.

Canada continues to have one of the safest and most secure transportation systems in the world. Road casualty collisions decreased steadily over the last ten years, while the use of vehicles increased. In the air sector, accidents involving registered aircraft are down 18% from the previous ten-year average. The rail sector saw a 4.1% increase in the number of accidents in 2022 yet recorded 5.2% less deaths than the previous 10-year average.

Transportation is a major contributor to the economy and plays an important role in the wellness of Canadians. It also supports many industries, including the manufacturing and tourism sectors.

Transportation not only moves finished Canadian goods to domestic and international markets, it also moves the materials and goods that Canadian businesses need. Transportation also connects people within and between different communities, major urban centres, provinces, territories, and countries.

Canada’s vast and sparsely populated territory, and extreme weather conditions, can make it challenging to ensure the safe, secure and efficient movement of goods and passengers in Canada. In this context, Transport Canada plays a central role in monitoring and reporting on the state of the Canadian transportation system by sharing data and information with the public through this annual report.

The Canada Transportation Act of 2007, subsection 52, requires the Minister of Transport to table this report every year, in both the House of Commons and Senate. This report provides an overview of transportation in Canada based on the latest information for all modes of transportation (at the time of writing).

The report highlights the role that transportation plays in the economy and summarizes the national and regional transportation networks’ infrastructure. It describes major developments in the transportation sector during 2022 from an efficiency, safety and security, and environmental perspectives.

The report also assesses the Canadian transportation system’s performance in 2022 by looking at the system’s use and capacity. It ends by looking at upcoming trends in the transportation sector.

In addition to this report, a statistical addendum containing information on freight and passenger traffic for each mode, infrastructure and labour statistics, price and productivity indicators, freight trade data by mode and country, reported accidents, and greenhouse gas emissions has been produced and will be available online through the Canadian Centre on Transportation Data and its Transportation Data and Information Hub.