2 TRANSPORTATION AND THE ECONOMY

IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORTATION TO THE CANADIAN ECONOMY

Value-Added Output of Commercial Transportation

Value-added estimates⁴ of output are available for transportation services that are offered on a commercial or for-hire basis. Such estimates do not include transportation services that are operated by a company for its own use, such as private trucking.

Commercial transportation industries in Canada accounted for $39 billion in 2002, or four per cent of the value-added GDP. Trucking is the most important industry, accounting for $11.9 billion, or 1.2 per cent of the total output. The air and rail transportation industries accounted for $4.3 billion (0.4 per cent of total output) and $4.7 billion (0.5 per cent), respectively.

Table 2-6 compares the contribution of the different modes of transportation to Canada's GDP in 2002.

1 GDP at basic prices.
2 Includes scenic and sightseeing, postal and courier services, as well as support activities for other modes of transportation such baggage handling, pilotage, harbour operation and rail car loading and unloading.

Source: Statistics Canada Cansim Table 379-0019

Transportation-Related Demand

The total of all transportation expenditures for the final demand of goods accounted for 14.1 per cent of expenditures in Canada's economy in 2002. Personal expenditures on transportation represented the largest part of transportation-related demand, accounting for 8.8 per cent of GDP. In 2002, these expenditures grew by 5.2 per cent, reflecting a 7.5 per cent increase in the purchases of motor vehicles. Transportation equipment purchases, mostly motor vehicles, made up 4.2 per cent of the GDP, while other motor vehicle expenses, including maintenance and repair, fuel and licences, made up another 3.6 per cent. Personal expenditures on commercial transportation made up 1.1 per cent of total GDP. For a more detailed breakdown of personal expenditures for transportation, see Table A2-65 in the Addendum.

Investment in transportation made up 3.3 per cent of the GDP in 2002. Business investment in transportation equipment made up the largest part of this and accounted for 2.3 per cent of the GDP. In 2002, business transportation investment rose by 29.2 per cent, reflecting a swing in automotive inventories from a drop of $3 billion in 2001 to an increase of $2.6 billion. Expenditures on roads made up 87 per cent of government spending on transportation and accounted for 0.6 per cent of the GDP. For more detailed information on government transportation spending, see Chapter 3 of this report.

Automotive trade dominated transportation exports and imports. Exports of automotive equipment, including parts, accounted for 8.5 per cent of the GDP, while imports accounted for 7.1 per cent in 2002. Automotive exports rose 4.5 per cent in 2002, while automotive imports rose 12.3 per cent. Exports and imports of transportation services each accounted for about one per cent of the GDP.

Transportation-related domestic demand made up 13.6 per cent of final domestic demand in 2002. This percentage is lower than for the GDP, reflecting the importance of automotive products to Canada's external trade.

Table 2-7 breaks down transportation demand as a proportion of GDP.

1 2001 figures; growth rates over previous year are growth rates over 2000.

Source: Statistics Canada National Income and Expenditure Accounts, Transport Canada

Importance of Commercial Transportation to Provincial/Territorial Economies

Commercial Transportation

Table 2-8 shows the importance of commercial transportation to provincial and territorial GDP. For the Canadian economy as a whole, commercial transportation accounted for four per cent of value-added GDP. It was most important to Manitoba, British Columbia and New Brunswick. Most of the commercial transportation activity took place in Ontario and Quebec, which together account for almost 59 per cent of the total commercial transportation measured in the GDP. Alberta and British Columbia accounted for almost 30 per cent.

Note: GDP at basic prices.
1 Includes warehousing.
2 Includes pipeline.

Source: Statistics Canada Cansim Table 379-0025

Provincial and Territorial Personal Transportation Spending

In 2001, Canadians spent $95.8 billion on personal transportation. Of this total, Ontario residents spent 41 per cent, Quebec residents 23 per cent, British Columbia residents 13 per cent, and Alberta residents 10 per cent.

On a per capita basis, Yukon residents spent the most on transportation, an average of $3,781 in 2001, while Nunavut residents spent the least, only $1,031. Of the other provinces and territories, only Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia residents spent more than the national average of $3,080.

On average, 15.4 per cent of total personal expenditures by Canadians in 2001 had to do with transportation. Personal transportation spending in the Yukon accounted for 16.5 per cent of total personal spending, the highest proportion of any province or territory.

Personal expenditures on transportation represented 9.2 per cent of final domestic demand in Canada in 2001. It made up over nine per cent in New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario, but only 7.1 per cent in the Yukon, 3.5 per cent in the Northwest Territories and 2.1 per cent in Nunavut.

Table 2-9 shows personal expenditures on transportation by province and territory in 2001.

Source: Statistics Canada

⁴ A value-added measure of output is referred to as net output. It is equivalent to gross output or total sales net of goods and services purchased by a firm as intermediate inputs and includes only primary inputs such as labour. Back to text

Canadian Economic Performance

Urbanization and Travel to Work

International Trade and Trade Flows

Tourism

Employment

Energy Consumption

Productivity and Price Performance of Transport

Importance of Transportation to the Canadian Economy