Canada Transportation - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

National air transport system

number of registered air carriers: 51 (2020)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 879

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 89.38 million (2018)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 3,434,070,000 (2018) mt-km

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

C

Airports

1,467 (2021)

Airports - with paved runways

523

civil airports: 123

military airports: 8

joint use (civil-military) airports: 3

other airports: 389

note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)

Airports - with unpaved runways

944

note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control

Heliports

26 (2021)

Pipelines

840,000 km oil and gas (2020)

Railways

total: 49,422 km (2021) note: 129 km electrified (2021)

standard gauge: 49,422 km (2021) 1.435-m gauge

Roadways

total: 1,042,300 km (2011)

paved: 415,600 km (2011) (includes 17,000 km of expressways)

unpaved: 626,700 km (2011)

Waterways

636 km (2011) (Saint Lawrence Seaway of 3,769 km, including the Saint Lawrence River of 3,058 km, shared with United States)

Merchant marine

total: 689

by type: bulk carrier 21, container ship 1, general cargo 65, oil tanker 15, other 587 (2022)

Ports and terminals

major seaport(s): Halifax, Saint John (New Brunswick), Vancouver

oil terminal(s): Lower Lakes terminal

container port(s) (TEUs): Montreal (1,585,465), Vancouver (3,678,952) (2021)

LNG terminal(s) (import): Saint John

river and lake port(s): Montreal, Quebec City, Sept-Isles (St. Lawrence)

dry bulk cargo port(s): Port-Cartier (iron ore and grain),

Fraser River Port (Fraser) Hamilton (Lake Ontario)

Transportation - note

Canada operates a fleet of 12 icebreakers including two PC 3 or 4 class medium icebreakers and ten PC 5 or 6 class light icebreakers
note - PC indicates a Polar Class vessel: PC 3 - year-round operation in second-year ice which may include multi-year ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 2.5 m); PC 4 - year-round operation in thick first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 120 cm); PC 5 - year-round operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 70-120 cm); PC 6 - summer/autumn operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 30-70 cm)

Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent:

NOTE: The information regarding Canada on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Canada 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Canada 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.