Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision Statistics: 2023

Collected in cooperation with the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators

Cette publication est aussi disponible en français sous le titre Statistiques sur les collisions de la route au Canada 2023

Catalogue No. T45-3E-PDF
ISSN 1701-6223

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Introduction

Transport Canada’s National Collision Database (NCDB) contains data on all reportable motor vehicle collisions in Canada that the provinces and territories provide each year.

The federal, provincial, and territorial governments in Canada work to improve road safety to reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries and to have the safest roads in the world. The year 2023 saw increases in the number of fatalities and serious injuries (compared to 2022), while the number of total injuries decreased. The 1,964 fatalities in 2023 marked the highest count in the past 10 years, the 9,261 serious injuries marked the highest count in the last 5 years, while the total injuries were around the average for the past 5 years. Compared to 20 years ago, fatalities have decreased by 28%, serious injuries have decreased by 41%, and total injuries are down 42%. Each count is much lower than when these data were first collected by Transport Canada in the early 1970’s.

In 2023, the number of motor vehicle fatalities was 1,964; up 1.7% from 2022 (1,931), and was the highest count in the last 10 years.
The number of serious injuries increased to 9,261 in 2023; up 0.9% from 2022 (9,179), and marked the highest count in the last 5 years.
The number of total injuries decreased to 118,838 in 2023; down 3.6% from 2022 (123,317).
The number of fatalities per 100,000 population was 4.9 in 2023 (down from 5.0 in 2022). The number of fatalities per billion vehicle kilometres travelled was 4.5, and the number of fatalities per 100,000 licensed drivers was 6.9, both of which remained the same from the year before.
2023 saw an increase in the percentage of drivers that were killed who were not wearing seatbelts as well as an overall increase (+10%) in the number of drivers that were killed. In 2023, 32.6% of driver fatalities were not wearing seatbelts compared to 29.1% in 2022, which is a relative increase of 12%. There were fewer passenger(-4%) and motorcycle(-9%) deaths in 2023; The percentage of both passengers and drivers that were seriously injured who were unbelted also went up.

Collisions and Casualties - 2004-2023
	Collisions		Victims
Year	Fatal^{Footnote 1}	Personal Injury^{Footnote 2}	Fatalities^{Footnote 3}	Serious Injuries^{Footnote 4}	Injuries^{Footnote 5}(Total)
2004	2,438	145,150	2,735	15,572	206,104
2005	2,551	145,559	2,898	15,792	204,701
2006	2,586	142,517	2,871	16,044	199,976
2007	2,455	138,615	2,753	14,410	192,745
2008	2,193	127,571	2,431	12,851	176,394
2009	2,007	123,449	2,216	11,955	170,770
2010	2,021	123,615	2,238	11,796	172,081
2011	1,849	122,350	2,023	10,940	167,741
2012	1,848	122,834	2,075	11,104	166,727
2013	1,772	120,371	1,951	10,662	164,525
2014	1,675	114,617	1,841	10,445	156,557
2015	1,693	117,857	1,887	10,835	160,806
2016	1,738	116,583	1,900	10,573	158,854
2017	1,698	112,714	1,861	10,104	152,773
2018	1,754	109,580	1,939	9,456	149,065
2019	1,620	103,020	1,756	8,602	139,084
2020	1,602	78,388	1,746	7,981	104,265
2021	1,628	81,962	1,768	8,321	108,552
2022	1,762	92,214	1,931	9,179	123,317
2023	1,768	89,982	1,964	9,261	118,838
Footnote 1 Fatal collisions" include all reported motor vehicle crashes that resulted in at least one death, where death occurred within 30 days of the collision, except in Quebec before 2007 (eight days). Return to footnote 1 referrer Footnote 2 "Personal injury collisions" include all reported motor vehicle crashes which resulted in at least one injury but not death within 30 days of the collision, except in Quebec before 2007 (eight days). Return to footnote 2 referrer Footnote 3 "Fatalities" include all those who died as a result of a reported traffic collision within 30 days of its occurrence, except in Quebec before 2007 (eight days). Return to footnote 3 referrer Footnote 4 "Serious Injuries" include persons admitted to hospital for treatment or observation. Serious injuries were estimated because several jurisdictions under-reported these numbers. Return to footnote 4 referrer Footnote 5 "Total Injuries" include all reported severities of injuries ranging from minimal to serious. Return to footnote 5 referrer

Fatalities and Injuries by Age Group - 2023
Age Group (yrs)	Fatalities	Serious Injuries	Injuries (Total)
0 - 4	12	75	1,548
5 - 14	38	319	4,760
15 - 19	136	768	9,855
20 - 24	164	950	12,333
25 - 34	336	1,712	22,572
35 - 44	285	1,400	18,881
45 - 54	246	1,246	16,121
55 - 64	292	1,189	14,305
65 +	446	1,297	14,863
Not stated	9	99	3,600
Total	1,964	9,055	118,838

Fatalities by Road User Class 2019-2023
Road User Class		2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Drivers	#	849	835	839	932	1,025
Drivers	%	48.3	47.8	47.5	48.3	52.2

Passengers	#	316	271	274	315	301
Passengers	%	18.0	15.5	15.5	16.3	15.3

Pedestrians	#	301	286	307	298	298
Pedestrians	%	17.1	16.4	17.4	15.4	15.2

Bicyclists	#	39	51	47	46	47
Bicyclists	%	2.2	2.9	2.7	2.4	2.4

Motorcyclists^{Footnote *}	#	195	242	230	251	229
Motorcyclists^{Footnote *}	%	11.1	13.9	13.0	13.0	11.7

Not stated/Other	#	56	61	71	89	64
Not stated/Other	%	3.2	3.5	4.0	4.6	3.3

Total	#	1,756	1,746	1,768	1,931	1,964
Total	%	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Footnote * Includes moped riders. Return to footnote * referrer

Fatalities 2004-2023
Year	Fatalities
2004	2,735
2005	2,898
2006	2,871
2007	2,753
2008	2,431
2009	2,216
2010	2,238
2011	2,023
2012	2,075
2013	1,951
2014	1,841
2015	1,887
2016	1,900
2017	1,861
2018	1,939
2019	1,756
2020	1,746
2021	1,768
2022	1,931
2023	1,964

Fatality Rate (per 10,000 motor vehicles registered)
Year	Fatality Rate
2004	1.43
2005	1.50
2006	1.43
2007	1.34
2008	1.15
2009	1.04
2010	1.02
2011	0.91
2012	0.93
2013	0.85
2014	0.78
2015	0.79
2016	0.78
2017	0.76
2018	0.77
2019	0.69
2020^{Footnote r}	0.68
2021^{Footnote r}	0.67
2022^{Footnote r}	0.75
2023	0.76
Footnote r Revised Return to footnote r referrer

Casualty Rates - 2023
	Per 100,000 Population^{Footnote 1}		Per Billion Vehicle-Kilometres^{Footnote 2}		Per 100,000 Licensed Drivers
	Fatalities	Injuries	Fatalities	Injuries	Fatalities	Injuries
Canada	4.9	296.5	4.5	273.9	6.9	415.8
NL	7.8	408.2	8.3	437.4	10.6	556.8
PE	8.1	287.3	8.4	299.2	10.8	383.8
NS	5.3	567.6	4.6	496.8	6.9	738.1
NB	8.5	257.5	8.1	245.7	12.8	386.7
QC	4.3	317.1	4.7	345.1	6.4	473.9
ON	3.9	231.0	3.4	198.7	5.3	312.5
MB	5.4	517.7	4.7	458.1	8.1	786.4
SK	7.6	445.9	5.9	345.5	11.0	644.9
AB	6.4	379.9	4.9	291.1	8.4	502.4
BC	5.5	230.7	6.2	261.2	7.9	334.5
YT	19.8	589.5	11.0	328.0	27.0	804.5
NT	9.0	190.2	8.0	171.0	14.9	316.9
NU	2.5	39.3	20.8	333.4	9.2	146.7
Footnote 1 Statistics Canada, Annual Demographic Estimates: Canada, Provinces and Territories, 2024, Catalogue No. 91-215-X. Return to footnote 1 referrer Footnote 2 Transport Canada calculations and estimates using an econometric model. Return to footnote 2 referrer Notes: Data for Ontario and Alberta are preliminary for 2023. Data for New Brunswick were estimated. Changes in how traffic collision reports are collected in Manitoba resulted in an increased number of injuries of a minimal nature being captured in 2023. Newfoundland and Labrador data reflects information contained in the Vehicle Collision Reports received and processed as of June 1, 2024. Rate-based data in smaller jurisdictions have a high level of fluctuation due to their small sample size.

Percentage of Fatalities and Serious Injuries by Road User Class - 2023
Road User Class	Fatalities	Serious Injuries
Drivers	52.2	47.3
Passengers	15.7	17.0
Pedestrians	15.2	15.5
Bicyclists	2.4	4.8
Motorcyclists^{Footnote *}	11.7	12.7
Not Stated/Other	2.9	2.7
Total	100.0	100.0
Footnote * Includes moped riders. Return to footnote * referrer

Percentage of Driver and Passenger Fatalities and Serious Injuries Where Victims Were Not Using Seat Belts 2019-2023
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Drivers
Fatalities	25.6	33.2	28.6	29.1	32.6
Serious Injuries	10.3	13.1	12.5	10.3	11.1
Passengers
Fatalities	29.8	39.2	35.6	34.7	32.0
Serious Injuries	13.3	21.2	21.3	17.2	18.9
Note: "Serious Injuries" include victims admitted to hospital for treatment or observation.

Number of Collisions By Location - 2023
Location	Fatal	Personal Injury
Urban^{Footnote 1}	799	65,834
Rural^{Footnote 2}	932	22,051
Not stated	37	2,097
Total	1,768	89,982
Footnote 1 Urban includes: (a) metropolitan roads and streets and other urban areas, or (b) a speed limit at the collision site of 60 km/h or less. Return to footnote 1 referrer Footnote 2 Rural includes: (a) primary or secondary highways, as well as local roads, or (b) a speed limit at the collision site exceeding 60 km/h. Return to footnote 2 referrer Note: In Alberta, New Brunswick, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, "urban" includes any area within the corporate boundaries of a city, town, village or hamlet. "Rural" includes any area outside of what is defined as “Urban”.

Percentage of Driver and Passenger Fatalities and Serious Injuries by Age Group - 2023
	Fatalities		Serious Injuries
Age Group (yrs)	Drivers	Passengers	Drivers	Passengers
0 - 4	0.0	2.2	0.0	3.1
5 - 14	0.1	6.7	0.1	9.2
15 - 19	6.3	14.6	7.4	13.6
20 - 24	8.6	11.1	10.4	14.0
25 - 34	18.4	15.6	20.4	16.0
35 - 44	15.8	10.2	17.5	11.0
45 - 54	14.6	6.7	15.7	9.5
55 - 64	15.6	7.3	14.2	8.7
65 +	20.7	24.5	14.2	12.7
Not Stated	0.0	1.0	0.1	2.3
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0

Number of Licensed Drivers by Gender and by Age - 2023
Age Group (yrs)	Males	Females	Other Gender^{Footnote *}	Total
< 16	35,630	29,570	22	65,222
16 - 19	649,588	585,929	201	1,235,718
20 - 24	1,131,125	969,228	255	2,100,608
25 - 34	2,664,790	2,423,403	637	5,088,830
35 - 44	2,559,028	2,450,796	233	5,010,057
45 - 54	2,289,440	2,207,020	82	4,496,542
55 - 64	2,407,869	2,303,485	31	4,711,384
65 +	3,022,495	2,848,022	17	5,870,535
Not Stated	3,038	1,947	17	5,002
Total	14,763,003	13,819,400	1,495	28,583,899
Footnote * 2 of the jurisdictions reported this category Return to footnote * referrer

Licensed Drivers and Motor Vehicle Registrations by Type of Vehicle 2004-2023 (in thousands)
Year	Licensed Drivers	Light-Duty Vehicles	Commercial Vehicles	Motorcycles
2004	21,673	17,920	752	409
2005	21,937	18,124	786	443
2006	22,278	18,739	841	485
2007	22,606	19,199	872	522
2008	22,972	19,613	907	567
2009	23,198	19,877	915	595
2010	23,541	20,268	964	616
2011	23,831	20,608	1,008	631
2012	24,147	20,652	1,053	661
2013	24,630	21,262	1,072	672
2014	24,914	21,730	1,121	688
2015	25,273	22,068	1,147	709
2016	25,580	22,410	1,144	716
2017	26,004	22,726	1,156	731
2018	26,583	23,100	1,197	740
2019	26,746	23,445	1,224	749
2020	26,971	23,757	1,241	751
2021	27,498	24,123	1,306	819
2022	28,027	23,621	1,327	810
2023	28,584	23,552	1,323	814
Source: the motor vehicle registration data are from Statistics Canada, CANSIM, Table 405-0004. The licensed driver data were provided by each jurisdiction.

Fatalities In Commercial Vehicle Collisions by User Type - 2019 to 2023
Road User Class	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Straight Truck (> 4,536 kg) Occupants	18	17	13	25	29
Tractor-Trailer Occupants	37	28	38	30	29
School Bus Occupants	0	0	2	0	2
Urban Transit Bus (City/Local) Occupants	0	0	0	0	3
Inter-City Bus (Motorcoach) Occupants	0	0	1	1	4
Passenger Vehicles	223	184	203	198	216
Pedestrians	65	55	57	66	53
Bicyclists	12	13	10	8	11
Motorcyclists^{Footnote **}	15	22	11	13	15
Other	29	17	26	36	37
Total Fatalities in CMV^{Footnote *} Collisions	399	336	362	376	399
Fatalities In All Other Collisions	1,357	1,410	1,406	1,555	1,565
Total Fatalities in All Collisions	1,756	1,746	1,768	1,931	1,964
Footnote * Commercial Vehicles (CMV) include heavy trucks and all bus types Return to footnote * referrer Footnote Includes moped riders Return to footnote referrer Note: These data were estimated using submissions from a subset of Canada's provinces and territories.

Contributing Factors in Fatal Collisions - 2019 to 2023
Contributing Factor^{Footnote *}	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Distraction	20.8%	21.1%	22.5%	20.4%	17.8%
Speed / Driving too Fast	23.8%	25.1%	26.5%	22.6%	24.8%
Impaired / Under the Influence	18.3%	20.0%	16.6%	19.6%	21.9%
Fatigue	3.4%	3.2%	3.0%	2.9%	3.3%
Other Human Factor	68.5%	61.2%	62.3%	68.4%	62.9%
Environmental Factor	23.2%	19.6%	20.5%	21.6%	20.1%
Vehicle Factor	4.3%	3.7%	3.3%	3.5%	3.0%
No Contributing Factors	27.7%	23.1%	25.1%	27.3%	28.3%
Footnote * There will be double counting because there are multiple contributing factors reported for most collisions Return to footnote * referrer Note: These data were estimated using submissions from a subset of Canada's provinces and territories.

To find out more about national road safety programs or initiatives, call Transport Canada toll free at 1-800-333-0371 or e-mail us at mvs-sa@tc.gc.ca.

You can also visit our web site at https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation or the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators' web site at www.ccmta.ca.

More detailed motor vehicle collision data can be queried using the National Collision Database (NCDB) On-Line tool located at https://tc.canada.ca/vehicleCollisions.

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Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision Statistics: 2023

Introduction