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•	Policy Overview
•	Transportation in Canada Annual Reports
•	Table of Contents
•	Report Highlights
•	1. Introduction
•	2. Transportation and the Canadian Economy
•	3. Government Spending on Transportation
•	4. Transportation and Safety
•	5. Transportation - Energy and Environment
•	6. Transportation and Regional Economies
•	7. Transportation and Employment
•	8. Transportation and Trade
•	9. Transportation and Tourism
•	10. Transportation Infrastructure
•	11. Structure of the Transportation Industry
•	12. Freight Transportation
•	13. Passenger Transportation
•	14. Price, Productivity and Financial Performance in the Transportation Sector
•	Minister of Transport
•	Addendum

Transport Canada

7 TRANSPORTATION AND
EMPLOYMENT

Workforce

An estimated 827,922 people worked full-time in the transportation sector in 1999, representing 6.9 per cent of total full-time employment in Canada. This was slightly less than in 1998, when transportation made up seven per cent. In 1997 and 1996, transportation accounted for 7.0 and 7.1 per cent, respectively, while in 1995 an estimated 7.2 per cent of full-time employees were directly associated with the transportation sector.

This report categorizes transportation-related jobs as follows:

transport services
transportation infrastructure
government services tied to transportation
other associated jobs.

In 1999, transport services accounted for an estimated 614,451 jobs, or 74.2 per cent of the total full-time workforce directly associated with transportation. Related services, such as marine pilotage and tour operators, made up 94,600 jobs (11.4 per cent), while jobs related to the development and maintenance of infrastructure accounted for 85,600 positions (10.4 per cent). Transport-related jobs in the federal and provincial governments accounted for the rest (four per cent).

Keeping in mind that this chapter considers only full-time jobs directly associated with any segment of the industry, the trucking industry is the most important employer in the transportation sector, accounting for 36.5 per cent of all positions. Air transportation is the second largest employer with an estimated 14.2 per cent of all transport jobs.

Table 7-1 compares employment, by category, for the transportation industry.

Transport Services

Rail

The numbers for personnel involved in the direct provision of rail transport services include engineers, conductors and workers who carry out equipment maintenance, as well as an estimate of carrier managerial and administration staff allocated to transportation services.Note 1

The estimated number of people involved in the provision of rail transportation services dropped significantly in all job categories between 1990 and 1998 (36 per cent). Equipment maintenance workers were the most affected, with a 47 per cent decrease.Note 2 Contracting out may have contributed to some portion of the recent declines, but the number of employees associated with contract work is not known at the time of writing. In 1998, there was a 4.5 per cent decline in total personnel employed in rail transport services, incurred entirely by the Class I carriers.

Table 7-2 shows employment in rail transportation services, for Class I, II and III carriers, since 1990.Note 3

Trucking

Medium and Large For-Hire Trucking Firms

In 1998, medium and large for-hire trucking firmsNote 4 employed an estimated 31 per cent of all personnel engaged in trucking activity in Canada. The total number of employees grew by 0.8 per cent from 1997 levels. The number of company drivers increased by 2.9 per cent, while the number of "other" employees dropped by 1.8 per cent. The number of "other employees" has been fluctuating since 1995, which may be a function of the survey rather than a representation of actual industry trends.

Since 1991, company drivers have accounted for approximately 57 per cent of all company employees in medium and large for-hire firms. This trend held true in 1998, with drivers making up 57.1 per cent of all employees. The range varied from a low of 55.7 per cent in 1995 to a high of 58.2 per cent in 1996.

Table 7-3 shows employment levels at medium and large for-hire firms for the period 1991 to 1998.

Ontario firms continue to employ the largest proportion of drivers in Canada, accounting for 40 per cent of all drivers for large for-hire carriers in 1998. Firms in the Prairie Provinces and Quebec accounted for 24 and 21 per cent, respectively, of all drivers for medium to large for-hire companies. The total number of employees increased in all regions except British Columbia and the Territories.

Table 7-4 compares employment, by region, for the trucking industry.

Small For-Hire Carriers

In 1997, the number of full-time employees associated with small for-hire carriersNote 5 decreased by 2.7 per cent from 1996. While there were large drops in Quebec (26 per cent) and Ontario (13 per cent), all other regions saw increases: Atlantic, 14.6 per cent; Prairie Provinces, 40 per cent; and British Columbia, 6.3 per cent.

Table 7-4 shows the number of full and part-time workers employed by the small for-hire trucking industry in Canada.

Private Carriers

In 1998, there were 396 private carriersNote 6 reporting in Canada, down from 422 in 1997. The number of employees reported by these carriers also decreased substantially, down 25 per cent. The number of highway drivers decreased by eight per cent, while local drivers and "other" employees dropped by 26 and 37 per cent, respectively. The figures indicate that a number of the private carriers that did not report in 1998 were involved extensively in local operations.

In terms of proportional decline, British Columbia and the Territories had the largest decrease in the number of personnel employed by private companies, at 60 per cent. The number of employees in the Prairie Provinces, Quebec and Atlantic Region decreased by 25, 24 and 23 per cent, respectively. Ontario saw a decline of 15 per cent.

Table 7-4 shows total employment by private trucking carriers for 1997 and 1998.

Owner-Operators

In 1997, 40,000 owner-operators employed 64,235 full-time employees. The largest proportion (29 per cent) was in Ontario. Owner-operators in the Prairie Provinces were the next largest group, with 28 per cent of the total employees. Quebec, British Columbia and the Atlantic Region accounted for 20, 14.5 and 8.5 per cent, respectively.

Table 7-4 shows the number of full-time employees associated with owner-operators for 1996 and 1997.Note 7

Total Trucking Employment

Total full-time employment in the trucking industry increased by 1.2 per cent in 1997. While actual data for a number of components of the industry for 1998 and 1999 are not available, estimates indicate that the workforce was stable in 1998 and saw a small increase of about one per cent in 1999. Employment by medium and large for-hire carriers increased slightly in 1998 (0.8 per cent), while the number of people employed by private carriers appears to have decreased significantly.

Table 7-5 compares employment, by sector, in the trucking industry from 1991 to 1998.Note 8

Bus

Employment figures for largeNote 9 intercity and school bus operators appear to have shifted significantly between 1997 and 1998. In 1998, 14 large intercity carriers reported 1,206 full-time employees.Note 10This was a 60 per cent decrease from the 2,960 full-time employees reported by 15 large intercity bus companies in 1997.Note 11 Conversely, 91 large school bus companies reported 22,192 full-time employees in 1998,Note 12 a 19 per cent increase if compared with the 81 large companies that reported in 1997.Note 13

Employment figures in the charter and other bus industry also appear to be somewhat unstable, with a 15 per cent decline in 1997 followed by a 22 per cent increase in 1998. In 1996, employment appeared to have increased by 39 per cent from 1995. While only two years of employment information are available for the shuttle services sector, the data also appears unstable, with a 21 per cent decrease being reported for 1998.

In 1998, 62 urban transit companies reported a full-time compliment of just under 36,000 employees. This was 1.7 per cent below employment levels reported for 1997. Between 1990 and 1998, the number of full-time employees in this sector decreased by five per cent.

These apparent shifts in the employment numbers can be explained by a number of factors. Since the mid-1990s, the industry has gone through a period of consolidation, mergers and acquisitions. In addition, starting in 1997, data for the bus industry has been reported according to the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). Under NAICS, companies are classified by industry according to their main activity, which may change from year to year. For example, in 1996 there were 43 companies reporting under SIC 4572 (Scheduled Intercity Bus Industry). Under NAICS there would have been only 29. Also, because the bus industry has become more dynamic over recent years, companies are involved in more than one sector (e.g. intercity, school bus, charter and shuttle activities).

Table 7-6 shows full-time employment figures for the bus industry for the period 1990 to 1998.

Taxi and Limousine Services

According to census data, there were 35,490 taxi and limousine drivers in Canada in 1996, an 18 per cent increase from 1986 levels. Three provinces accounted for 76 per cent of all taxi and limousine drivers employed in Canada during 1996. Ontario accounted for 40 per cent of drivers, an increase of 27 per cent from 1986 levels. Quebec employed 24 per cent, up ten per cent from 1986, while British Columbia employed 12 per cent, up 16 per cent.Note 14

Marine

Average annual employment in the water transport industry, including services incidental to water transportation, increased by seven per cent in 1999 over 1998 levelsNote 15. Historically, employment has declined by 13 per cent since 1995.

In 1999, 42 per cent of all people working in the water transport industry, not including services incidental to water transport, were located in British Columbia. The Atlantic Region accounted for another 18 per cent, while Ontario and Quebec accounted for 16 and 15 per cent, respectively.

Ferry operations account for a large proportion of employment in the marine transport services sector, generating about two thirds of all transportation jobs provided by Canadian-based carriers.

Table 7-7 shows average annual employment in the water transport sector, by region.

Air

After a decline from 1990 to 1995, employment in the air industry has grown by 38 per cent between 1995 and 1999. The last two years saw significant increases: in 1998 and 1999 total employment grew over 11 and seven per cent, respectively.

Following a significant decline between 1990 and 1995, total employment by Levels I-III air carriers exceeded 1990 levels in 1998.Note 16 There were increases in all employment categories. The number of pilots and copilots and other flight personnel increased by ten per cent. Management and administration personnel grew by 11 per cent, and the number of other carrier personnel increased by just over nine per cent. Employment by Level IV carriers increased by 25 per cent between 1997 and 1998.

Table 7-8 compares Level I-IV air carrier employment levels with that of the total air industry.

Other

The "other" public passenger transit employment figures shown in Table 7-9 refer to personnel employed by public transit companies not included in the Statistics Canada bus surveys referred to earlier in this section,Note 17 as well as people directly employed by services incidental to the bus industry. A significant drop in employment was noted between 1990 and 1995. Since then, however, the number of jobs has slowly increased. Based on the first six months of available data, there was a seven per cent increase in employment in 1999 from 1998.

The number of personnel employed in "other transportation" jobs has been steadily decreasing since 1990.Note 18

The number of people employed by the "pipeline transportation" sector has also been slowly decreasing since 1990, with a further 2.5 per cent decline during 1999. A number of these jobs are probably associated with the development and maintenance of the pipeline infrastructure, and as such should be reported in the following section. It is impossible, however, with any level of accuracy, to disaggregate the numbers to that level of detail.

Data Gaps

A number of data gaps exist in transport services. In air, no employment data is captured for Level V and VI carriers, or private and general aviation activity. There are no numbers available for jobs in Canada related to foreign carriers operating to/from this country. In the marine area, there are no figures associated with shipping conferences operating in Canada.

Transport Infrastructure

This section refers to personnel employed at harbours, airports, ports and other transport-related facilities. It also includes personnel dedicated entirely to the construction and maintenance of transport infrastructure, such as rail right-of-way, roads and highways.

Rail

The number of road maintenance workers employed by both Class I and Class II rail carriers decreased by 33 per cent since 1990. If the estimated number of managerial and administration staff are included, employees dedicated to rail infrastructure declined by 34 per cent for Class I carriers and 32 per cent for Class II carriers.

Table 7-10 compares the number of people employed in rail infrastructure services by Class I and II rail carriers between 1990 and 1998.

Highways

There is no definitive source for determining the number of people employed in the construction and maintenance of highways in Canada. In addition, this is an industry influenced by economic and seasonal factors among others. The employment data in this report are derived from census data for the industry classification "Highways and Heavy Construction." Actual data was available for 1986, 1991 and 1996. Estimates for intervening years are derived from average annual growth between 1991 and 1996.

There were 68,820 people employed under this classification in 1996. On the assumption that post 1996 employment grew at the same rate as government expenditures on road construction and maintenance (0.3 per cent) between 1996 and 1999, there were an estimated 69,026 people employed under this category in 1999.

Marine

Ports

There were 921 full-time personnel employed by the Canadian Port AuthoritiesNote 19 (CPA) in 1999, compared with 879 by the same group of ports in 1998. The number of part-time workers remained stable, whereas the number of contract workers increased from 56 in 1998 to 85 in 1999.

Table 7-11 shows total employment, by category, by the Port Authorities in 1998 and 1999.

Employment numbers in the summary table (Table 7-1) at the beginning of this chapter include employment data for Canadian Ports Corporation (CPC) facilities for the period 1990 to 1997. As such, the time-series does not refer to the same set of ports. It is, however, a good indicator of the number of full-time personnel at Canada's major ports over the reference period.

St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation

The number of full-time positions at the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) decreased by 8 per cent in 1999, as compared with the number of employees reported by its predecessor, the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority (SLSA), in December 1998. Decreases occurred in all categories, with the largest proportional decrease (27 per cent) in management. The numbers of administration and operations staff each decreased by less than 10 per cent.

Table 7-12 summarizes total employment levels at the SLSMC and SLSA between 1995 and 1999.

Air

In 1999, there were an estimated 2,547 full-time people employed at Canadian Airport Authorities (CAAs) and Local Airport Authorities (LAAs) in the National Airport System (NAS). There were also 292 Transport Canada employees in transit to CAAs.Note 20 Combined, the 2,839 people working at NAS airports accounted for an estimated 12 per cent increase over the number of employees reported in 1998. NAS airports handled over 90 per cent of the passenger activity at Canada's airports in 1999.

Table 7-13 shows available employment data for Canada's NAS airports in 1999.

Data Gaps in Transportation Infrastructure

Numerous gaps exist in the reporting of transportation infrastructure data. Some employment figures are not captured or are impossible to break out from more aggregate information. With airports, for example, employment at non-NAS facilities is not identified. In the case of ports, this report includes only full-time employment at Canadian Port Authorities, thereby excluding all personnel employed by non-port authorities and private firms. Various other jobs related to marine infrastructure, such as dredging, construction and maintenance of piers, berths and terminals, are not specifically addressed in this section. Finally, the employment figures reported for construction and maintenance of highways may be high, as it is impossible to break out the number of workers employed in heavy construction.

Government Services Tied to Transportation

Federal Government Services

In 1999/2000, five federal departments and agencies have planned to devote 8,297 full-time employees to transportation.Note 21 This was a 1.6 per cent decrease from planned levels in 1998/99. These numbers do not include positions primarily concerned with transportation in other departments and agencies, such as Revenue Canada/Customs and Immigration, the federal police, Agriculture Canada, Heritage Canada and the National Capital Commission, for example. While some departments and agencies have some transport-related functions, the employment figures are not captured at a level of detail that allow identification of the associated jobs.

Table 7-14 shows planned full-time equivalentsNote 22 in federal departments and agencies that deal directly with transportation.

Provincial and Territorial Government Services

Estimates indicate that employment related to transportation services in the provinces and territories has been slowly decreasing. Although it has not been possible to get an exact breakout for these services, estimates have been included in the summary tables for government services related to transportation. No attempt was made to estimate transport-related functions such as highway policing, safety or regulatory services provided by the provincial governments, or other activities such as truck inspection and highway patrol services.

Municipal Government Services

A large number of people are associated with transportation services at the municipal level. For example, personnel doing snow removal, street construction and maintenance, street cleaning, parking control and traffic-related policing all fall into this category. However, it was not possible to develop a comprehensive picture of these employees across Canada for this report.

Associated Services

Estimates of employment in the transportation sector would be incomplete without including the number of people employed in the many other services directly associated with transportation. These include services related to "sales," such as travel agents, tour operators and third-party service providers (e.g. intermodal marketing companies, load brokers, logistics, freight forwarders, customs, brokers, etc.). There are also a number of services related to operations, such as air, rail and marine control, marine pilotage, food catering, marine bunkering and towing, and maintenance of equipment and insurance. Associated administrative support also accounts for a large number of jobs. Finally, there are numerous modal associations and unions (RAC, ATAC, CBA, CTA, etc.) that have administrative and other staff functions.

Due to data limitations, this section specifically addresses only the four-pilotage authorities, longshoremen working for the two maritime employers associations, and full-time employees at travel agencies, tour operators and tour wholesalers and operators.

Marine

Pilotage Services

The number of personnel employed by Canada's four pilotage authorities has remained relatively stable since 1995. In 1999, the number of employees increased by 1.6 per cent, with the Laurentian Authority responsible for the entire increase.

Pilots made up over 75 per cent of all personnel in 1999; this is a slight increase from proportions observed in previous years (72 to 74 per cent). The Laurentian Authority accounted for 45 per cent of all pilots in Canada; the Pacific, Great Lakes and Atlantic authorities employed 28, 15 and 12 per cent, respectively. The number of administration staff has remained relatively stable since 1995.

Table 7-15 shows historical employment trends, by category, for each Pilotage Authority in Canada.

Maritime Employers Associations

The number of personnel associated with both the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (West Coast) and the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) in Eastern Canada has decreased since 1995. In the case of the MEA, a significant proportion of the decline was due to a 1996 change in the composition of ports that remained members of the organization.

Table 7-15 shows historical employment trends, by category, for the two maritime employers associations in Canada.

Air

Travel Agencies, Tour Operators and Tour Wholesalers and Operators

Travel agencies, tour operators and tour wholesalers and operators employed 31,174 people in 1999. This was a 2.7 per cent increase over 1998 levels and a 15 per cent increase since 1990. Over 39 per cent of these workers were employed in Ontario. Personnel in Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta accounted for 26, 16 and 10 per cent of the total, respectively.

Other Air-Related Associated Services

There are a number of personnel employed by associations related to the air industry. These groups include the Air Transport Association of Canada, the Northern Air Transport Association, the Ultra Light Pilots Association of Canada, Canadian Owners and Pilots Association and the Canadian Seaplane Association of Canada. In addition, carrier and air navigation staffs are represented by a number of unions, with administrative staff. It was not possible to retrieve accurate employment counts for these services for this issue of the report.