Transportation activity trends

The growth in Canada's population and economy increases the demand for transportation. Most of the energy used to meet this demand still comes from fossil fuels, which leads to increasing emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases.

Key results

• Between 1990 and 2016, domestic freight transportation^{Footnote 1}  activity (expressed in tonne-kilometres)^{Footnote 2}  increased by 70%, from 575 to 976 billion tonne-kilometres
• During the same period, passenger travel (expressed in passenger-kilometres)^{Footnote 3} grew by 61%, from 492 to 793 billion passenger-kilometres

Domestic freight and passenger transportation activity, Canada, 1990 to 2016

Source: Natural Resources Canada (2018) Energy Use Data Handbook Tables, Transportation Sector, Transportation Secondary Energy Use by Energy Source and Transportation Mode.