Canadian Transportation Economic Account, 2022
Released: 2026-03-17
Output of transportation activities tops $502.2 billion in 2022, accounting for 7.8% of Canada's gross domestic product
The output of all transportation activities, as defined by the Canadian Transportation Economic Account, increased 16.9% from 2021 to $502.2 billion in 2022. The total contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) was $216.4 billion, representing 7.8% of Canada's GDP.
The increased output in 2022 was largely due to higher fuel prices, much of which were passed on to customers. Air travel bounced back, growing by 110.2% in 2022 as Canadians took to the air again in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 6.6% growth in GDP in the transportation sector in 2022 was driven by an increase in for-hire transportation (+15.7%), which was partially offset by a decline in own-account transportation (-1.4%). The combined effect of slow growth in own-account transportation by households and a decline in own-account trucking lowered the sector's share of total GDP from 8.3% in 2021 to 7.8% in 2022.
Output by the for-hire transportation industries increased 25.0% to $252.3 billion in 2022, while own-account production of air, rail, water and truck transportation services by the non-transportation industries increased 2.8% to $44.4 billion. Households produced $205.4 billion of own-account transportation services, representing 82.2% of total own-account transportation activity.
Share of own-account transportation by mode in 2022
Own-account production of air, rail, water and truck transportation services by the non-transportation industries was $44.4 billion in 2022. The share of own-account production in the total (for-hire and own-account) production for these four modes fell year over year from 28.2% to 23.0%.
Trucking accounted for 94.9% of own-account transportation activity in 2022. In turn, own-account trucking accounted for 30.4% of total trucking activity in Canada. Own-account activity for the other modes was much smaller. In total, they were estimated to be $2.3 billion and accounted for 5.1% of the total supply of own-account transportation services (excluding household production).
Canadian transportation, 2022
Total production of air, rail, water, and truck transportation in Canada increased by one-quarter (25.9%) year over year to $192.7 billion in 2022. Output of own-account transportation activity grew 2.8% to $44.4 billion, accounting for just under one-quarter (23.0%) of total output. Own-account air transportation rose 51.1%, on markedly higher jet fuel prices. Output of own-account rail (+22.3%) and water (+9.5%) transportation also rose on higher fuel inputs. Output of own-account trucking grew by 1.8%, compared with 27.1% for-hire trucking. This is in line with the 2022 supply and use tables, which indicate real increases in the use of fuel inputs in the output of for-hire trucking, and real decreases in the use of fuel inputs by all other industries.
Total trucking transportation in Canada grew by 18.2% in current prices, rising from $117.3 billion in 2021 to $138.6 billion in 2022. The share of own-account trucking to total trucking reached 30.4% in 2022.
Note to readers
Understanding Canada's supply chains and transportation networks is essential for measuring economic resilience and performance. With the support of Transport Canada, Statistics Canada developed the Canadian Transportation Economic Account (CTEA) as part of a collaborative effort to improve transportation data and insights supporting Canada's trade diversification. The CTEA, along with other data products and analyses, is featured on the Transportation Data and Information Hub, the authoritative online source for reliable Canadian transport data and information.
The CTEA estimates are a supplement to the Canadian supply and use tables (SUTs). Due to their detailed and comprehensive nature, SUTs are published with a three-year lag. This delay is caused by the time required to gather and compile all the necessary source data. The CTEA provides a comprehensive measure of transportation services. This measure extends beyond the output of the traditional for-hire transportation industries by including own-account transportation services provided by industries outside the transportation sector and by households.
The CTEA presents own-account transportation by each mode as a separate industry. As such, five new own-account transportation industries are introduced, one for each of the four primary modes of transportation (air, rail, water and truck) and one for the Household Production of Transportation Services industry. The 12 existing for-hire transportation industries can also be grouped by mode: air transportation, rail transportation, water transportation, truck transportation, and other transportation (which includes urban transit systems, other transit and ground passenger transportation and scenic and sightseeing transportation, taxi and limousine service, crude oil and other pipeline transportation, pipeline transportation of natural gas, support activities for transportation, postal service, and couriers and messengers).
Valuing the production of own-account transportation services by industries has no impact on value added by industry and total gross domestic product (GDP). However, measuring Household Production of Transportation Services, in the macroeconomic framework, increases GDP by the amount of depreciation and by certain taxes on motor vehicles owned by households.
The CTEA consists of four tables:
Supply: The supply table is a product by industry matrix that shows how much of each product is produced by each industry, as well as imported from outside Canada.
Use: The use table is a product by industry matrix that shows how much of each product is used by each industry as intermediate consumption. It also shows use by final uses, including final consumption expenditure of households, government, and non-profit institutions serving households, gross capital formation and exports.
Direct requirements: The direct requirements table is a product by industry matrix that shows the cost of each product used by an industry per dollar of industry output, including the costs of for-hire and in-house transportation.
Total requirements: The total requirements table is an industry by product matrix that shows the sum of direct and indirect industry output required to produce a product for final use.
Products
Additional information can be found in the document "Transportation Economic Account: Sources and Methods."
Contact information
To request the Canadian Transportation Economic Accounts, 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).
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