Release of the Canadian Cycling Network Database

Released: 2025-01-30

The Canadian Cycling Network Database is a national dataset of cycling infrastructure, compiling data from 75 municipal providers. The dataset allows for comparisons of the cycle network between municipalities and aims to facilitate evidence-based decision making on active transportation infrastructure within Canada.

The Canadian Cycling Network Database, courtesy of the Urban Data Lab at Statistics Canada, is now available as part of the Linkable Open Data Environment.

Bikeway classification

Cycling infrastructure was classified into eight bikeway types, using the Canadian Bikeway Comfort and Safety (Can-BICS) classification system. High comfort bikeways are considered comfortable and safe for most people, and include protected cycle tracks, off-road paved bike paths, and local street bikeways. Medium comfort bikeways include multi-use paths, which are shared by cyclists and pedestrians. Low comfort bikeways are considered high stress routes and include painted bike lanes along busy roads. Bikeways that are not classified in the Can-BICS system but were classified in the dataset include shared roads and gravel paths.

National overview

A total of 18 700 km of cycling infrastructure was mapped across 75 municipalities. The data obtained for 70 percent of the municipalities were published in 2024 or 2023, while data for the remaining was published from 2018 to 2022. The dataset is not exhaustive, as it only includes data which were openly available via municipal open data sources.

Across the dataset, the most common infrastructure type is multi-use paths, accounting for 27% of the reported cycling infrastructure, followed by painted bike lanes (26%). In total, high comfort bikeways account for 13% of cycling infrastructure, including cycle tracks (6%), paved off-road bike paths (4%), and local street bikeways (3%).

Comparison across municipalities

The municipalities with the largest network of high comfort bikeways are Montréal (360 km), Vancouver (246 km), Edmonton (226 km), and Québec (190 km). When accounting for population, the urban centres with the largest amount of high comfort bikeways per 100,000 population are the Sherbrooke (63 km), Victoria (38 km) and Vancouver (37 km) census subdivisions. A full breakdown of length per municipality for each Can-BICS category is included in the Canadian Cycling Network Database download folder.

Dataset access

The dataset can be downloaded from the Canadian Cycling Network Database webpage. The release includes a geospatial file representing the cycling network (compatible with geographic information systems), as well as a comma-separated values (CSV) table breaking down the lengths for each infrastructure type for each municipality. Further details on methodology, including a table mapping municipal to Can-BICS classifications, are also included in the download folder.

Contact information

The Canadian Cycling Network Database was made possible by the ongoing efforts of organizations that produce and maintain open data and by the cooperation of organizations that have either given permission to include their publicly available data or directly provided their data for release as open data. The contribution and assistance of these organizations are gratefully acknowledged.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).