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Transportation in Canada 2000

Table of Contents

Report Highlights

Addendum

1. Introduction

2. Transportation and the Canadian Economy

3. Government Spending on Transportation

4. Transportation and Safety

5. Transportation - Energy & 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

List of Tables

List of Figures

List of Annexes

8 TRANSPORTATION AND TRADE

Domestic Trade

Overview

The value of domestic trade (goods and services) increased at an average annual rate of 4.7 per cent from 1993 to 1999, which equals a shift from $1,104 billion to $1,459 billion in current dollars. In terms of constant (1992) dollars, however, this annual average growth is only 3.2 per cent. When compared with that of external trade over the same period, this growth in domestic trade is moderate, which is explained later in the chapter.

Services dominated domestic trade from 1993 to 1999, with a share almost twice that for goods: 66 per cent compared with 34 per cent. Over the period, the value of services traded increased from $732 billion to $964 billion. In terms of sectors, intraprovincial trade remained the backbone of domestic trade, with a relatively constant 86 to 87 per cent of total domestic trade, while interprovincial trade levelled at 13 per cent.

Intraprovincial trade grew from $966 billion in 1993 to $1,270 billion in 1999, at an average annual growth rate of 4.6 per cent. Interprovincial trade flows grew at the higher average rate of 5.4 per cent, growing from $138 billion to $189 billion over the same period.

Figures 8-1 and 8-2 show Canada's domestic trade by type and sector from 1993 to 1999.

Composition of Trade

Transportation needs are different for goods and services. The value of services rose from $732 billion in 1993 to $964 billion in 1999, with the vast majority (over 90 per cent) traded intraprovincially. Major domestic services were related to business and finance, the government sector, wholesale and retail trade, construction, and transportation.

Although they have a smaller share of domestic trade, the value of goods traded increased from $372 billion to $495 billion over the same period, representing an average annual growth of 4.9 per cent. Fabricated materials and manufactured goods captured approximately 80 per cent of total domestic trade, while primary goods and crude materials accounted for the rest. Over 75 per cent of total domestic trade in goods was intraprovincial.

Table 8-1 shows the value of domestic trade by sector and type of commodity in 1999.

Transportation by mode

With an average annual growth of 3.5 per cent, the volume of goods carried by various modes rose from 372 million tonnes in 1993 to 456 million tonnes in 1999. Rail had the greatest share, moving between 46 and 50 per cent of the total tonnage during the period. For-hire truckingNote 3 ranked second, increasing its share from 38 per cent to 43 per cent. Marine's share decreased from 13 to 11 per cent, while air carried less than one per cent.

Table 8-2 shows that 456 million tonnes were moved domestically in 1999. Raw materials and primary goods made up more than 56 per cent of this total, while manufactured goods accounted for the rest. As expected, rail and marine carried the most primary goods traded within the country, capturing 75 per cent of the market. For-hire trucking also garnered a high percentage, carrying 67 per cent of fabricated materials and manufactured goods. This share would undoubtedly be higher if the activities of small for-hire carriers, private trucking carriers and owner-operators could also all be taken into account.

In 1999, containerized freight accounted for approximately seven per cent of domestic rail tonnage and nearly one per cent of domestic marine tonnage. No specific measure was found for containerized freight handled by for-hire trucking.

Manufacturing shipments could be used as a general indicator of trucking activity. In 1999, manufacturing shipments rose by 9.4 per cent to reach $491 billion, compared with gains of 3.2 per cent in 1998 and 6.9 per cent in 1997. Performance in 2000 was similar to 1999, with manufacturing shipments rising again by nine per cent to settle at $535 billion. These gains in 1999 and 2000 were the strongest seen by manufacturers since 1995, when shipments increased by 12.5 per cent.

Intraprovincial Trade

With a constant share of over 85 per cent, intraprovincial trade made up the bulk of total domestic trade value from 1993 to 1999. In 1999, intraprovincial trade amounted to $1,270 billion, including $882 billion in services and $388 billion in goods traded.

Figure 8-3 shows that distribution of intraprovincial trade by province did not vary significantly from 1993 to 1999. Ontario dominated with close to 40 per cent of Canada's total intraprovincial trade. Quebec ranked second with 22 per cent, followed by British Columbia and the territories at 14 per cent. Alberta came next with 13 per cent, followed by Manitoba and Saskatchewan, sharing six per cent, and the Atlantic provinces, also sharing six per cent.

Table 8-3 shows that rail and for-hire trucking filled most of the transportation needs generated by intraprovincial trade in 1999. In fact, trucking's share is probably larger than indicated here, as data on small for-hire, owner-operators and private carriers are only partially captured.

Interprovincial Trade

As mentioned previously, interprovincial trade represented less than 15 per cent of total domestic trade value from 1993 to 1999, which is a relatively small share. It is, however, an important component of domestic trade because it shows economic interactions between provinces, as well as the changes in these interactions. Interprovincial trade amounted to $189 billion in 1999, distributed between goods traded at $108 billion and services at $81 billion.

Finance and business, wholesale and retail trade, and transportation were the major services traded between provinces, while food products, machinery and equipment, and mineral fuels were the major goods traded. Table 8-3 shows that rail and for-hire trucking carried over 85 per cent of total interprovincial tonnage in goods moved between provinces in 1999.

Main East-West Routes

In 1999, six interprovincial trade flows of $10 billion or more represented 53 per cent of total interprovincial trade. Valued at $54 billion, or 29 per cent of total trade between provinces, the two largest movements were between Ontario and Quebec. Ontario to Quebec flows totalled $30 billion, while the reverse flows amounted to $24 billion. Other large movements involved Ontario to Alberta at $14 billion, followed by Ontario to British Columbia at $12 billion, Ontario to Atlantic provinces at $11 billion, and Alberta to Ontario at $10 billion. These dominant flows were stable from 1993 to 1999.

Table 8-4 shows the main interprovincial trade markets and underlines the strong linkages between neighbouring provinces. Ontario was the only province to show an interprovincial trade surplus for all years.