1 INTRODUCTION
The state of transportation in Canada is presented in the 2004 Annual Report using the most current information available.
The Canada Transportation Act (1996) places a
statutory responsibility on the Minister of Transport to
table every year an annual report on the state of
transportation in Canada. Section 52 of the Act defines
the mandate and the nature of the responsibilities and
requirements of the annual report:
"Each year the Minister of Transport shall, before the
end of May, lay before Parliament a report briefly
reviewing the state of transportation in Canada in respect
of the preceding year, including:
- the financial viability of each mode of transportation
and its contribution to the Canadian economy and the
development of the regions;
- the extent to which carriers and modes of
transportation were provided resources, facilities and
services at public expense;
- the extent to which carriers and modes of
transportation received compensation, indirectly or
directly, for the resources, facilities and services that
were required to be provided as an imposed public
duty; and
- any other transportation matters the Minister
considers appropriate."
The 2004 annual report, an overview of transportation
in Canada, is the ninth submitted by the Minister since the
Act came into force. The most recent available data and
information were used to produce the report. Therefore, it
is not always 2004 data that are reported. The scope of
the report is not restricted to federal transportation
responsibilities. While urban and intermodal transportation
matters receive limited coverage, the report offers
nevertheless a broad comprehensive coverage of the
country's transportation system.
As for recent previous years, an addendum to this
report is posted on Transport Canada's Web site. The
Addendum contains more detailed information on the
subject matters covered in the overview. Since the
2002 Annual Report, the scope of the coverage of the
report has been maintained through the use of the
Addendum, despite a more concise review of the state of
transportation in Canada. Readers interested in more
detailed and/or time series information are invited again
this year to consult the Addendum at www.tc.gc.ca.
Individual references to the Addendum are found either in
the text or in footnotes to the text or to tables and figures.
Information contained in tables or used to produce figures
in the 2003 report have been updated in the report itself
or can be found in tables in the Addendum. In addition, all
annual reports since 1996 are available on Transport
Canada's Web site at www.tc.gc.ca.
Canada's economy is a complex system that involves
the production, distribution and consumption of
commodities — both material goods and services. The
country's economic well-being depends on the ability to
span distances using transportation services, on dynamic
trade relationships with other nations, and on the ability to
compete in a global marketplace. Canada's economy is
one of the strongest and healthiest among leading
industrial countries.
Transportation has an important role to play in
enhancing the well-being of Canadians, by attracting the
right investments and by creating conditions favourable to
growth. Transportation opens markets to natural
resources, agricultural products and manufactured goods,
it supports service industries and mitigates the challenges
presented by topography. Transportation links communities
and reduces the effects of the distances that separate
people. Canada's prosperity is closely linked to its
relationships with other countries, particularly with the
United States. The two countries share the longest
undefended border in the world and exchange nearly
$1.8 billion in goods and services daily. A more global
economy is rapidly developing with the expansion of the
European Union and with emerging economies such as
China, India and Brazil assuming increasingly important
roles in trade. Transportation has to evolve with economic
globalization and integration and adjust to the changes in
both the domestic and global landscapes.
The needs of all sectors of the economy drive the
demand for transportation services. To provide the proper
context, this overview of the state of transportation begins
with a review of the performance of the Canadian
economy (Chapter 2). Detailed information related to
employment, trade and tourism can be found in the
Addendum along with detailed information on
transportation energy consumption.
Chapter 3 addresses the Section 52 (b) requirement
related to the statutory mandate for the annual report by
presenting the most recent information on government
transportation spending and revenues. Some of the
government transportation spending is directed at specific
transportation system infrastructure assets. The private
sector expenditures on and investments in Canada's
transportation system are not covered in this chapter.
The focus on the public sector does not reflect all
transportation expenditures and investments.
Chapter 4 reviews safety and security in the
transportation system. A safe transportation system
remains a fundamental priority for Canada. This chapter
provides an up-to-date overview of the most recent
accidents and incidents statistics by mode. Recent
enhancements to security are also reviewed.
Chapter 5 covers transportation and the environment.
A review of environmental trends in transportation is
followed by a description of the initiatives of the different
levels of government relating to transportation and
the environment.
Chapters 6 to 9, using a modal approach, give the most
recent information on transportation. For rail (Chapter 6),
marine (Chapter 8) and air transportation (Chapter 9),
the coverage is structured as follows: special events in
2004, infrastructure, industry structure, freight and
passenger transportation activity levels, and, where
applicable, intermodalism and performance. All roadrelated
transportation is regrouped in Chapter 7, with
coverage of the same subject matters as found in the
three modal chapters.
Most of the data used and presented in this report or in
the Addendum is from sources external to Transport
Canada. The onus for data validation rests with those
sources. Proper care and attention to data quality and
limitations was given during the production of this report,
and footnotes are used where needed to flag issues and
explain data limitations. Given the constraints of the
statutory deadlines under which the report was produced,
the responsibility for data accuracy rests with the sources
used. This report does not attempt to circumvent data
limitations by estimating, nor does it attempt to present a
prospective view of Canada's transportation system.
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