Trends and Outlook

Pre-load Air Cargo Targeting (PACT) System

In 2024, Transport Canada launched the PACT system. The system uses machine learning to detect risks in air cargo shipment data and makes transporting air cargo more secure. Air carrier information is analyzed ahead of time and high-risk air cargo shipments can be reviewed before they arrive in Canada. This added digital security layer has reduced security-related cargo risks, supported economic resiliency, and boosted public confidence in Canada’s air cargo system.

Air Right Touch (ART)

In 2024, the Air Right Touch Initiative worked with industry partners to make air travel more efficient and secure by supporting projects with airlines, airports and CATSA to test facial recognition and digital credential technologies. This initiative allowed Canadians to voluntarily provide their identity using secure digital credentials on mobile devices to enable faster, more efficient and secure passenger processing at Canadian airports.

Advanced air mobility (AAM)

Advanced air mobility has the potential to boost economic growth, create jobs, improve access for remote regions, and support environmental sustainability. To support future operations, we created an internal AAM Integration Team in 2024 to coordinate efforts across departments and provide a single point of contact for industry. Canada also supported international harmonization through the International Civil Aviation Organization’s AAM Study Group.

Accessible transportation

The Government is committed to achieving a Canada without barriers by 2040, including inclusive and accessible transportation systems. Despite significant work on regulations, barriers persist, especially in air travel. To this end, Canada held the first National Air Accessibility Summit in 2024, bringing together the air sector, disability community, and Indigenous partners. The summit led to key commitments to improve air travel for persons with disabilities, including exploring seamless travel strategies, streamlining processes with standardized medical forms and improving data sharing with government officials.

Oceans Protection Plan

In 2024, we continued implementing the Oceans Protection Plan to improve marine safety, protect the environment, and respond to emergencies. For example, in 2024, the National Aerial Surveillance Program did 466 hours of surveillance in the Arctic, which helped oversee marine safety and enforce Canada’s environmental protection measures.

In 2024, proposed amendments to the Environmental Response Regulations were pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I. The updates will help improve how certified response organizations and oil handling facilities prepare for, and respond to, oil spills.

The Safety Equipment and Basic Marine Infrastructure in Northern Communities initiative completed 2 projects in the Northwest Territories, resulting in 6 communities now being served by double-hulled barges and one with an upgraded petroleum resupply pipeline. This work improved the safety and efficiency of sealift operations and essential goods delivery to remote Northern communities.

Indigenous partnerships and marine training

In 2024, the Western Arctic Marine Training Consortium was launched and its first cohort of students graduated in April, with funding support from Transport Canada. Since 2018, more than 1,260 people from underrepresented groups, including Indigenous peoples, have graduated from marine training programs across Canada, with over 930 finding jobs in the marine sector.

Protecting marine mammals

Transport Canada continued to focus on reducing the impact of marine traffic on at-risk whale species. For the Southern Resident killer whale, vessel slowdown zones and interim sanctuary areas stayed in place in southern British Columbia. We also supported commercial vessel slowdowns and rerouting measures through the ECHO Program in coordination with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.

In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, vessel speed restrictions and routing measures were implemented to protect North Atlantic right whales. From April 17 to November 15, these measures were monitored using aerial surveillance, underwater acoustic gliders, and drones with thermal camera technologies. 99% of vessels complied with mandatory speed limits. In 2024, we also introduced voluntary slowdowns in the Bay of Fundy when whales were detected.

International collaboration on marine emissions

Throughout 2024, Canada worked with member states at the International Maritime Organization to help implement the 2023 Greenhouse Gas Strategy.

In a key development, the organization adopted Canada’s proposal to create an Emissions Control Area (ECA) in the Canadian Arctic to reduce air pollutants from marine vessels. In parallel, Transport Canada began to engage with Inuit to explore approaches that minimize potential economic impacts while advancing environmental protection in Northern communities.

High-Speed Rail

Significant progress was made in 2024 on Canada’s High-Speed Rail Initiative, which will provide fast, frequent, and reliable rail service in the Toronto-Quebec City Corridor. The network will span up to 1,000 km, and connect the cities of Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, Laval, Trois-Rivières and Quebec City. The Initiative's multi-year Procurement Phase to identify a private developer partner to jointly design and develop the project with Alto (formerly VIA HFR) entered its final steps with the end of the Request for Proposals phase on July 24, 2024.

This milestone was followed by the evaluation of bid submissions from three consortia with expertise in the design, development, and operation of large-scale transportation infrastructure. The successful completion of the procurement phase sets the stage for the next phase of the project, and the co-development phase will be launched in 2025. While the role of Project Authority will pass to Alto at the end of the procurement phase, Transport Canada will continue to enable, oversee and coordinate the project to ensure that regulatory, technical, and stakeholder considerations continue to be met during the co-development phase.

Fighting auto theft

Vehicle theft continued to rise in 2024, with organized crime groups increasingly involved. The Canada Border Services Agency intercepted 2,277 stolen vehicles in railyards and ports in 2024, which was over 25% more than in 2023. In February, the Government of Canada hosted a National Summit on Combatting Auto Theft to strengthen collaboration across governments, industry, and law enforcement. A National Action Plan was released in May outlining key federal and partner actions.

Transport Canada committed to modernizing the Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to address new theft prevention technologies. We held a public consultation and published a What We Heard Report in December 2024. We’re now consulting with industry groups to help shape future updates to regulations.

We also completed targeted port security assessments at high-risk container facilities to detect and address vulnerabilities in vehicle export routes. Security plan updates are now in progress, with follow-up inspections planned for 2025.

To spur innovation, we sponsored the Vehicle Theft Prevention Challenge in collaboration with Public Safety Canada and the RCMP. Under this initiative, 88 proposals were submitted, and 8 were chosen for Phase 1 funding of $150,000 each to develop affordable aftermarket theft prevention technologies.

We also worked with provinces and territories to address fraudulent vehicle registrations, or “ReVINing.” Discussions focused on improving data sharing through expanded use of the Interprovincial Record Exchange.

CANUTEC (the Canadian Transport Emergency Centre) continued operating its national advisory service. This service helps emergency responders handle dangerous goods emergencies 24/7.

CANUTEC also released the 2024 edition of the Emergency Response Guidebook, which is used during incidents that involve dangerous goods on highways or rail lines. The guidebook continued to help first responders identify hazards based on the material involved to protect themselves and the public when responding to an incident.

In 2024, the Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) Program’s 94 inspectors did more than 4,200 inspections. These led to nearly 6,200 enforcement actions and reduction measures to enhance regulatory compliance and address safety concerns.

To provide broader context on safety trends, the following figure compares recent dangerous goods incident numbers with national economic activity:

The TDG Program continues to update safety standards and promote the Means of Containment (MOC) facility registration program to ensure the safe transport of dangerous goods using standardized containment systems, with roughly 1,890 active facility registrations. The program also made progress on several key regulatory and legislative initiatives to enhance knowledge of dangerous goods activities and improve oversight tools for assessing and addressing emerging risks. Research supported evidence-based decision-making, including regulatory reviews for bulk ammonia transport by rail, marine transport of energy storage systems, and safety modelling for tank car marshalling and the performance of portable tanks for liquefied natural gas.

Figure 15: Total Number of Reportable Incidents in Canada vs. Real GDP in 2017 CAD (2019-2023)

In November 2020, the Commissioner for the Environment and Sustainable Development released a follow-up audit of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Program and Canada Energy Regulators. In response, the TDG Program committed to addressing the audit’s findings through a management action plan that will track progress. In 2024, the program successfully addressed the one remaining audit finding, thereby fulfilling 5 of 5 recommendations outlined in the plan.

In accordance with the requirements set out by the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations, the program continued to promote the Emergency Response Assistance Plan (ERAP) program to improve response capabilities for incidents involving dangerous goods, and where applicable, national security threats.

The National Supply Chain Office (the Office) was created in December 2023 to work with private and public sector partners to make Canada’s supply chains more efficient, fluid, resilient and reliable. The Office continued to engage constantly with industry and other levels of government to keep goods flowing quickly and reliably. It supported improved industry coordination and information sharing before, including during times of disruption. This included working groups focused on specific challenges and issues, as well as broad engagement, such as the National Supply Chain Forum held on June 21, 2024. The Office also helped share information among key players to keep goods and critical supplies moving during critical disruptions, like the Jasper wildfires. The Office also supported practical, on-the-ground improvements, including pilot projects to address port bottlenecks and efforts to enhance digital tools and data-sharing across the supply chain network to lay the groundwork for a stronger, more economically resilient and agile supply chain network across Canada.