Canada
The following tables show the national statistics as reported by Transport Canada.
Exhibit 5.1- Fatal Collisions Where a Vehicle Hits an Animal – Canada
| Fatal Collisions | |||||
| Province | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Alberta | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| British Columbia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Manitoba | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| New Brunswick | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Newfoundland | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Nova Scotia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| N.W.T. | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ontario | 5 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 4 |
| P.E.I. | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Quebec | 6 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Saskatchewan | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Yukon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 21 | 23 | 12 | 32 | 17 |
Source: Transport Canada, Road Safety Directorate
Exhibit 5.2 - Collisions Where a Vehicle Hits an Animal – Canada
| Province | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Alberta | 150 | 160 | 166 | 185 | 12 |
| British Columbia | 185 | 236 | 276 | 316 | 345 |
| Manitoba | 158 | 160 | 199 | 159 | 214 |
| New Brunswick | 125 | 117 | 104 | 85 | 106 |
| Newfoundland | 78 | 62 | 56 | 70 | 62 |
| Nova Scotia | 79 | 105 | 82 | 69 | 47 |
| N.W.T. | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Ontario | 562 | 585 | 569 | 610 | 596 |
| P.E.I. | 12 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 9 |
| Quebec | 275 | 330 | 383 | 363 | 435 |
| Saskatchewan | 129 | 117 | 123 | 140 | 164 |
| Yukon | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| TOTAL | 1,761 | 1,887 | 1,975 | 2,009 | 2,003 |
Source: Transport Canada, Road Safety Directorate
Exhibit 5.3- Collisions Where a Vehicle Hits an Animal – Canada
| Province | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Alberta | 4,430 | 4,672 | 4,098 | 5,487 | 353 |
| British Columbia | 709 | 931 | 1,465 | 1,741 | 1,998 |
| Manitoba | 2,755 | 2,658 | 3,213 | 3,218 | 3,971 |
| New Brunswick | 948 | 876 | 893 | 806 | 786 |
| Newfoundland | 295 | 336 | 315 | 364 | 312 |
| Nova Scotia | 798 | 770 | 688 | 573 | 432 |
| N.W.T. | 13 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 16 |
| Ontario | 9,026 | 10,503 | 11,248 | 12,894 | 14,018 |
| P.E.I. | 12 | 23 | 16 | 13 | 14 |
| Quebec | 5,978 | 6,082 | 5,456 | 6,075 | 6,256 |
| Saskatchewan | 1,987 | 1,936 | 3,604 | 5,780 | 9,564 |
| Yukon | 26 | 29 | 41 | 37 | 34 |
| TOTAL | 26,977 | 28,826 | 31,049 | 37,008 | 37,754 |
Source: Transport Canada, Road Safety Directorate
With the exception of 2003, the national statistics show a significant increase in the number of animal-vehicle collisions. As per previous analysis on this subject, this increase does not translate into more fatalities. The number of fatal collisions in fact decreases significantly in 2003.
Alberta
The data shows nevertheless some signs of peculiarities as far as provincial figures are concerned. The data for the province of Alberta seems inconsistent especially when looking at collisions with property damage, where only 353 collisions were reported in 2003 compared to 5,487 in 2001. The same can be said of the two other categories: fatalities and injuries. The provincial data obtained from the Province of Alberta shows the following statistics:
Exhibit 5.4- Alberta - Animal - Vehicle Collisions* 1999-2003
| Severity of Collision | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Fatal | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Injury | 273 | 262 | 346 | 324 | 299 |
| Property Damage | 8,799 | 9,604 | 11,061 | 11,120 | 11,318 |
| Total Collisions | 9.077 | 9.868 | 11,412 | 11,449 | 11,623 |
Source: Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation
* Includes wild and domestic animals but more than 95% of the animals involved are wild animals
The data for the Province of Alberta shows that the provincial database is more than double the number of collisions shown in the national statistics. One explanation for this discrepancy appears to be found in the “data dictionary” submitted by Transport Canada to the provinces. The data presented by Transport Canada appears to only capture the collisions with damage estimated at a $1,000 minimum, whereas the Alberta data depicts all the collisions reported in Alberta irrespective of the amount of damage.
The Province of Alberta has a system in place whereby a vehicle involved in a collision receives an “insurance sticker” before going to a garage to be fixed. It would appear that most mechanics accept for repair only the vehicles with these stickers as they fear that without that sticker they may not get paid.
The above explanation can only partially explain the differences between Transport Canada data and the ones from that Province. The difference in the number of collisions with fatalities cannot really be explained.
We will now look at other Provincial databases and continue to compare the national statistics to existing provincial databases.
Newfoundland & Labrador
Exhibit 5.5 - Newfoundland Animal-Vehicle Collisions 1999 - 2003
| Year | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Total Collisions | 356 | 378 | 353 | 397 | 363 |
| Collisions with Injury | 99 | 76 | 64 | 80 | 87 |
| Collisions with Fatality | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Source: Newfoundland & Labrador Ministry Department of Environment and Conservation
Exhibit 5.6- Newfoundland Animal-Vehicle Collisions 1999 – 2003
RCMP and Conservation Officers Reports
| Year | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Collisions as reported by RCMP | 356 | 378 | 353 | 397 | 363 |
| Collisions based on RCMP + Conservation Officer reports combined | 685 | 622 | 718 | 805 | 706 |
| Difference | 329 | 244 | 365 | 408 | 343 |
Source: Newfoundland & Labrador Ministry Department of Environment and Conservation
The data from Newfoundland shows that the reportable collisions matched closely the national database. Only when all collisions are factored in, is there is a discrepancy between the national database and the provincial database. In fact, the number of reported collisions almost doubled. Again we are confronted with the same phenomenon as in Alberta whereby motorists are required to report all collisions to the RCMP that result in injury or incur more than $1,000 in vehicle damage. Many people simply do not bother reporting collisions with damages less than that amount.
Other facts regarding Newfoundland:
- Newfoundland animal-vehicle collisions are mostly moose-vehicle collisions.
- Generally speaking, moose-vehicle collisions are a serious threat to motorists and moose as they cause injury and death.
- Only 16.0% of collisions reported to RCMP resulted in injury of any kind, the majority of these being minor. Of all accidents reported to RCMP and Conservation Officers, only 8.0% of the collisions led to reported injuries.
- On average, only 2 people are killed every year in these collisions.
- According to government sources, 89% of moose die at the scene.
Nova Scotia
The Province of Nova Scotia is well known for its huge deer population. The collision data from provincial sources show the following statistics:
Exhibit 5.7 - Nova Scotia Deer-Vehicle Collisions 2001-2003
| Year | Fatal | Injury | Property Damage Only | Total |
| 2001 | 1 | 74 | 638 | 713 |
| 2002 | 1 | 55 | 514 | 570 |
| 2003 | 0 | 33 | 364 | 397 |
Source: Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Public Works
Nova Scotia’s data seem to be in line with the national statistics and the differences between the table above and the national tables may be related to other species such as moose and black bears.
Prince Edward Island
PEI indicated that they do not have a major problem with any large wild animals and they do not collect statistics other than those for Transport Canada.
Quebec
The Ministry of Transport in Quebec has been addressing the issue of animal-vehicle collisions for the past 10 years. They have developed measures aimed at reducing the number and severity of the collisions and their efforts have been concentrated in some particular regions within the Province of Quebec. These efforts have meant that the ministry collects data for those regions. The following statistics are extracted from reports produced by the ministry for those specific regions. Therefore, it does not cover the entire province but only part of it.
The statistics below cover the following regions with their estimated length of highway network:
- Bas-St-Laurent-Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine – 3,651 kms
- Capitale-Nationale (Quebec city area) – 1,629 kms
- Chaudière-Appalaches – 2,777 kms
- Côte-Nord – 2,086 kms
- Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec – 2,866 kms
- Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean-Chibougamau – 2,332 kms
At the time of completing this report, the statistics were only available for the period 1996 to 2000. A report covering the period 2001 to 2005 will be published later in 2006. It will nevertheless allow us to compare data for two years, i.e. 1999 and 2000.
Exhibit 5.8 - Quebec Regions Animal-Vehicle Collisions
| Year | Deer | Moose | Bear | Caribou | Total |
| 1996 | 1,195 | 236 | 8 | 0 | 1,439 |
| 1997 | 1,256 | 210 | 23 | 1 | 1,490 |
| 1998 | 1,640 | 310 | 30 | 1 | 1,981 |
| 1999 | 1,900 | 300 | 41 | 0 | 2,241 |
| 2000 | 2,454 | 297 | 58 | 1 | 2,810 |
| Total | 8,445 | 1,353 | 160 | 3 | 9,961 |
Source: Ministère des Transports du Québec
Exhibit 5.9 - Quebec Regions Animal-Vehicle Collisions by Severity
| 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | |
| Fatalities | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Injuries | 80 | 59 | 113 | 111 | 129 |
| Property Damage | 1,355 | 1,428 | 1,867 | 2,216 | 2,678 |
| Total | 1,439 | 1,490 | 1,981 | 2,241 | 2,810 |
Source: Ministère des Transports du Québec
The statistics from the Province of Quebec show no particular discrepancies when compared to the data published by Transport Canada.
Ontario
The same situation prevails for Ontario. There are no significant discrepancies between the data published by Transport Canada and the data available from the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. This does not mean however that the number of animal-vehicle collisions is not underrepresented.
Exhibit 5.10 - Ontario Animal-Vehicle Collisions by Severity
| Year | Fatal | Injury | Property Damage Only | Total |
| 1997 | 5 | 403 | 7,309 | 7,717 |
| 1998 | 3 | 394 | 7,803 | 8,200 |
| 1999 | 4 | 466 | 8,390 | 8,860 |
| 2000 | 6 | 506 | 9,826 | 10,338 |
| 2001 | 4 | 482 | 10,565 | 11.051 |
Source: Y.M. Elzohairy, C. Janusz, & L. Tosca, Characteristics of Motor Vehicle-Wild Animal Collisions: An Ontario Case Study, Transportation Research Board, 2004
Ontario data indicate that less than 0.1 percent of animal-vehicle collisions are fatal, 4.8 percent of all reported animal-vehicle collisions are non-fatal injury collisions, and over 95% of all reported animal-vehicle collisions are property damage only ( PDO ) collisions.
The same report also provides useful information regarding animal-vehicle collisions in Ontario and the type of roads on which they occurred.
Exhibit 5.11 - Ontario Collision Severity by Road Characteristics, 2001
| Road Characteristics | Fatal | Injury | Property Damage Only | Total | % |
| Undivided One-Way | 0 | 4 | 171 | 175 | 1.6 |
| Undivided Two-Way | 4 | 423 | 9,375 | 9,375 | 9,802 |
| Divided with Restraining Barrier | 0 | 24 | 337 | 361 | 3.3 |
| Divided | 0 | 31 | 626 | 657 | 5.9 |
| Ramp | 0 | 0 | 22 | 22 | 0.2 |
| Collector lane | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Express lane | 0 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 0.1 |
| Transfer Lane | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 16 | 16 | 0.1 |
| Total | 4 | 482 | 10,565 | 11,051 | 100 |
Source: Y.M. Elzohairy, C. Janusz, & L. Tosca, Characteristics of Motor Vehicle-Wild Animal Collisions: An Ontario Case Study, Transportation Research Board, 2004
The same study provides other interesting statistical facts:
- The number of animal strikes on Ontario roads has increased from 7,389 in 1996 to 11,051 in 2001. This represents a 50 percent increase over a 6-year period.
- Approximately one out of every 21 collisions that occur on Ontario highways involves a wild animal venturing onto the highway.
- Motor vehicle-wild animal collisions have claimed 42 lives in the past eight years.
- High numbers of animal-vehicle collisions were found during the months of October to December, with November being the month with the greatest number of motor-vehicle wild-animal collisions.
- Most wild animal collisions occur during early morning (5am-7am) or after sunset (5pm- 11pm).
- With 719 vehicle-animal collisions reported in 2001, the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton has had a consistently higher number of wild animals collisions than any of the other 53 counties in Ontario.
On the subject of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, the region shows the following statistics over a eleven-year period:
Exhibit 5.12 - Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton Animal – Vehicle Collisions 10-Year Period 1994-2004
| 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | Total | Avg. | |
| Total deer collisions | 261 | 241 | 355 | 469 | 475 | 509 | 629 | 680 | 817 | 944 | 917 | 6,297 | 575.5 |
| Fatal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.1 |
| Injury | 4 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 11 | 29 | 23 | 32 | 182 | 16.5 |
| Property Damage | 257 | 233 | 347 | 453 | 458 | 492 | 612 | 669 | 788 | 921 | 885 | 6,115 | 555.9 |
Source: City of Ottawa, Transportation, Utilities and Public Works Department, 2006
Exhibit 5.13- Exposure Data - Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton
| Deer Collisions | Population | Collisions/Population Ratio * | Registered Vehicles | Collisions/Reg Veh Ratio ** | |
| 1994 | 261 | 707,500 | 0.37 | 384,764 | 0.7 |
| 1995 | 241 | 719,000 | 0.34 | 380,186 | 0.6 |
| 1996 | 355 | 730,000 | 0.49 | 378,109 | 0.9 |
| 1997 | 469 | 741,000 | 0.63 | 384,681 | 1.2 |
| 1998 | 475 | 750,000 | 0.63 | 396,048 | 1.2 |
| 1999 | 509 | 765,000 | 0.67 | 413,892 | 1.2 |
| 2000 | 629 | 780,500 | 0.81 | 430,547 | 1.5 |
| 2001 | 680 | 790,000 | 0.86 | 441,625 | 1.5 |
| 2002 | 817 | 881,500 | 1.01 | 441,169 | 1.9 |
| 2003 | 944 | 828,693 | 1.14 | 445,120 | 2.1 |
Source: City of Ottawa, Transportation, Utilities and Public Works Department, 2006
Exhibit 5.14- Regional Muncipality of Ottawa-Carleton Proportion of Animal-Vehicle Collisions
| Muncipality | 2003 Deer Collisions | 2003 All Collisions | Deer Collisions as a Percentage of All Collisions | |||
| West Carleton | WC | 203 | 21.5% | 469 | 3.2% | 43.3% |
| Goulbourn | GO | 82 | 8.7% | 337 | 2.3% | 24.3% |
| Rideau | RI | 91 | 9.6% | 274 | 1.8% | 33.2% |
| Kanata | KA | 99 | 10.5% | 818 | 5.5% | 12.1% |
| Nepean | NE | 156 | 16.5% | 2,178 | 14.7% | 7.2% |
| Ottawa | OT | 7 | 0.7% | 7,717 | 52.0% | 0.1% |
| Vanier | VA | 0 | 0.0% | 279 | 1.9% | 0.0% |
| Osgoode | OS | 98 | 10.4% | 308 | 2.1% | 31.8% |
| Gloucester | GL | 158 | 16.7% | 1,837 | 12.4% | 8.6% |
| Cumberland | CU | 50 | 5.3% | 634 | 4.3% | 7.9% |
| Total | 944 | 14,851 | 6.4% | |||
Source: City of Ottawa, Transportation, Utilities and Public Works Department, 2006
Exhibit 5.15 - Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton Deer Collisions as a Percentage of All Collisions
Source: Source: City of Ottawa, Transportation, Utilities and Public Works Department, 2006
The above exhibits and figures show the statistical characteristics of the problem in an area where animal-vehicle collisions are an issue. As can be seen, for some areas around the City of Ottawa, deer-vehicle collisions are a serious issue and represent a large proportion of the road collisions for that area.
Manitoba
The province of Manitoba has a public no-fault insurance system. Although the data collected by Manitoba Public Insurance covers all collisions, some may be excluded because not all car owners have full coverage for damage to their cars. When they purchase their insurance coverage, car owners have the option to choose their deductible for damage to their vehicles.
The Manitoba data show a difference between provincial data and Transport Canada data.
Exhibit 5.16 Manitoba Animal-Vehicle Collision Claims 2001 –2003
| Year | Total Claims | Claims with Fatality | Claims with Injury | Claims with Property Damage Only ( PDO ) | Average Costs from Collisions with PDO |
| 2001 | 9,389 | 2 | 238 | 9,141 | $1,617 |
| 2002 | 9,262 | 0 | 251 | 9,011 | $1,701 |
| 2003 | 10,804 | 0 | 277 | 10,527 | $1,818 |
Source: Manitoba Public Insurance
Saskatchewan
As we have seen for the province of Manitoba, when a province has a full public insurance regime in place, some data discrepancies can be expected between the provincial data and Transport Canada’s database. Saskatchewan is no different in this respect. The data obtained from Saskatchewan Government Insurance shows that there are some data discrepancy issues between data obtained from the province of Saskatchewan and the national database.
Exhibit 5.17 Comparison of Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions in Saskatchewan According to:
Traffic Accident Information System ( TAIS ) and SGI claims 1996-2004
| Year | Total Collisions ( TAIS ) | Collisions with Injuries | Collisions with Fatalities | Collisions with Property Damage Only | SGI Claims Related to Animal Collisions |
| 1999 | 2,228 | 190 | 1 | 2,037 | 9,998 |
| 2000 | 2,205 | 196 | 2 | 2,007 | 10,645 |
| 2001 | 3,860 | 189 | 0 | 3,671 | 11,775 |
| 2002 | 6,112 | 209 | 2 | 5,901 | 11,514 |
| 2003 | 9,960 | 229 | 1 | 9,730 | 13,966 |
Source: Saskatchewan Government Insurance
The discrepancy shown above in Exhibits 5.16 and 5.17 illustrates the different data collection methodologies existing in Canada. While the Transport Canada data collection ( TAIS ) efforts are on the number of collisions where wild animal action was a contributing factor in the crash and the damage often exceeds $1,000, organizations like MPI and SGI focuses on all claims.
British Columbia
As for British Columbia, the data provided by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia ( ICBC ) showed the following trends.
Exhibit 5.18 British Columbia Animal-Vehicle Collisions
| Year | Collision Counts | Injured Victims |
| 2002 | 9,300 | 330 |
| 2003 | 9,100 | 280 |
Source: Insurance Corporation of British Columbia
As was the case for Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and for the same reason stated for these two provinces, the number of collisions shown for British Columbia is much more than was shown in Transport Canada national statistics.
The available data shows that there are some discrepancies in the data between Transport Canada and provincial databases. These differences continue to point towards an under-reporting of the number of animal-vehicle collisions in Canada. At the same time, the differences can probably be bridged by a change in the data dictionary being asked of the provinces. We have at least four provinces that appear to capture the total count of animal - vehicle collisions. For those provinces, the data reflect the true number of collisions. The comparisons of databases also showed that on the issue of collisions with fatalities and collisions with injuries, the gap between provincial databases and the Transport Canada database is very small.