Ontario Region

Overview

Ontario is home to some of Canada’s largest transportation hubs, facilitating the transportation of people and goods throughout the country via an integrated multi-modal network.

The Region is home to four National Airport System airports (London, Ottawa, Thunder Bay and Toronto). Toronto Pearson is Canada’s largest airport and one of the busiest hubs in North America, with 312,000 tonnes of cargo and 47 million passengers per year, with this number reaching over 50 million passengers in 2019.

Ontario also has a large, sophisticated marine industry, driven by freight cargo traffic throughout the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway system, facilitating trade to 50+ countries. The Port of Hamilton is the busiest Canadian Great Lakes Port, with over 700 vessels visiting per year.

The Ontario Region has two Class I freight railroads (Canadian National, Canadian Pacific) that operates over 8,600 kilometres of track, as well as two passenger rail operations (VIA Rail, Amtrack). Union Station in Toronto is Canada’s largest commuter hub, with over 200,000 passengers passing through per day. The station is serviced by VIA Rail, Amtrack, Metrolinx and the Toronto Transit Commission. Metrolinx operates the busiest commuter rail service in Canada with plans to dramatically expand the reach and capacity of the network.

The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area is a critical connector for intermodal shipments and handles the majority of transportation volumes in Ontario, with a network that includes:

• Canada’s busiest highway corridor (Highway 401 and connecting highways); and
•  Canada’s four busiest land border crossings.

Transport Canada Presence

Regional Director General, Ontario Region: Duwayne Williams

Employee count: 450 employees

Offices: 11

• Regional Headquarters in Toronto, ON
• 10 offices throughout ON:
  • Hamilton;
  • Kingston;
  • Niagara-on-the-Lake;
  • Ottawa;
  • Pearson Airport;
  • Pickering;
  • St. Catharines;
  • Sarnia;
  • Sudbury; and
  • Thunder Bay.

Transport Canada owned assets:

• 6 ports:
  • Burlington;
  • Owen Sound;
  • Pelee Island Scudder Warf;
  • South Baymouth;
  • Tobermory; and
  • Walpole
• The Pickering Lands site (8,700 acres of land for potential airport).