2 TRANSPORTATION AND THE ECONOMY
AREAS OF IMPORTANCE TO
TRANSPORTATION
TRAVEL AND TOURISM
International travel to and from Canada rose 3.2 per cent
in 2004, reversing the 7.1 per cent drop of 2003. The
increase was larger in travel with countries other than the
United States. Reflecting the stronger Canadian dollar,
trips by Canadians rose 6.5 per cent overall; trips to the
United States rose 5.6 per cent while trips to other
countries rose 13.1 per cent. Travel by residents of other
countries to Canada saw an overall increase of
24.3 per cent, while trips by Americans to Canada fell 2.5 per cent. Transborder air travel growth was strong.
Trips by Americans by plane to Canada rose 10.6 per cent
and trips by Canadians to the United States by plane
increased 9.8 per cent.
Table 2-3 shows international travel in 2004.
TABLE 2-3: INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL, 2004
| |
2004 |
Percentage change
from 2003 |
| Trips by Canadians |
41,786,293 |
6.5 |
| To United States |
36,047,297 |
5.6 |
| Automobile |
29,649,404 |
4.6 |
| Same-day |
21,520,394 |
3.1 |
| Overnight |
8,129,010 |
8.5 |
| Airplane |
4,640,006 |
9.8 |
| To all other countries |
5,738,996 |
13.1 |
Trips by non-residents |
38,844,666 |
(0.1) |
| by U.S. residents |
34,626,114 |
(2.5) |
| Automobile |
27,254,823 |
(5.2) |
| Same-day |
17,845,999 |
(9.1) |
| Overnight |
9,408,824 |
3.2 |
| Airplane |
4,328,939 |
10.6 |
| Trips by all other non-residents |
4,218,552 |
24.3 |
Total international trips |
80,630,959 |
3.2 |
Source: Statistics Canada cat. No. 66-001
Domestic travel 3 fell 8.3 per cent in 2003 to 172.2 million
trips, down from a six-year high of 187.9 million in 2002.
Both same-day and overnight travel fell by 7.3 per cent
and 9.4 per cent, respectively. Same-day travel by air
rose 24.1 per cent after falling 35.5 per cent in 2002. By
contrast, same-day travel by rail fell 27.9 per cent after
increasing 10.6 per cent the previous year. Both
interprovincial and intraprovincial travel declined.
In 2004, tourism expenditures in Canada were
$55.5 billion, up 6.5 per cent from 2003, a reversal of the
2.0 per cent decline in 2003. Tourism spending by
Canadians rose 4.5 per cent, while spending by
foreigners rose 4.2 per cent. Tourism recovered after
being adversely affected by the SARS outbreak, the war
in Iraq, the forest fires in British Columbia, and the August
power outage in Ontario in 2003. Tourism expenditures
on transportation were $20.3 billion, up 9.3 per cent.
Expenditures on air travel rose 9.4 per cent, while motor
vehicle-related expenditures rose 9.7 per cent. See tables
A2-11 to A2-21 in the Addendum for more on tourism.
EMPLOYMENT
While recent figures are not available for all modes, the
number of people employed in the transportation sector is
estimated to be around 834.8 thousand. 4 The trucking
industry had the greatest number of employees in the
transportation sector with 329 thousand, or 39.4 per cent.
In 2004, employment in the air transport services
increased for the second year in a row, to 79.7 thousand.
Estimates for rail services employment are unchanged at
36.4 thousand. Employment in highway construction and
maintenance is estimated to be 65 thousand in 2004.
For detailed information on employment and salaries in
the transportation sector see tables A2-22 to A2-47 in
the Addendum.
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Total domestic energy consumption increased by
2.7 per cent in 2003. The strongest sectors were mining
(+22 per cent) and forestry, which after a 6.2 per cent
decline in 2002 rebounded with a 9.3 per cent increase.
This surpassed all levels of consumption registered since
1990. The only sectors to see declines in energy use
were public administration (-1.6 per cent) and
manufacturing, not including its transportation component
(-1.1 per cent). Energy consumption by the transportation
sector increased by only 0.7 per cent, reducing its share
of the total from 33.8 per cent in 2002 to a still significant
33.2 per cent in 2003.
Road energy use increased by 3.2 per cent in 2003,
making it the only mode to use more energy. This boosted
its share of total transportation energy consumption to
77 per cent, compared with 75 per cent the two previous
years. The aviation sector used the same amount of
energy in 2003 as in 2002. All other modes used less
energy, pipelines by 15.2 per cent, marine by 6.9 per cent
and rail by 0.3 per cent. See Addendum tables A2-48 to
A2-55 for more on transportation energy consumption.
3 Domestic travel refers to trips at least 80 kilometres from a traveller’s usual place of residence, excluding trips to or from work or school. Back to text
4 This estimate excludes private trucking employment. Back to text
Canadian Economic Performance
International Trade and Trade Flows
Areas of Importance to Transportation
Productivity and Price Performance of Transport
Importance of Transportation to the Canadian Economy
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