Commuting to work

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: This fact sheet offers a summary of content changes for the 2026 Census specific to the following topics: labour market activities, commuting and education. The tested changes for each topic are explained, along with the resulting approach for 2026.

Description: The infographic “From home to work: Commuting in Canada’s cities, May 2024” uses data from the May 2024 Supplement to the Labour Force Survey (Surveys and statistical programs - Labour Market Indicators) to analyze at the effects of the pandemic on commuting in many census metropolitan areas across Canada, whether by car, public transport, walking or biking.

Description: This article looks at how the unique circumstances of 2021 that drove the increase in working from home affected English- and French-speaking workers differently in the Montréal metropolitan area and how commuting flows in this region differ by language profile.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: Active commuting (AC) to and from work is associated with numerous health benefits, through increased physical activity. This study examined whether occupation types and part-time work, by sex, were associated with AC in a population-based sample of Canadian workers. This study examined the associations between occupational classifications, part-time work, and AC (i.e., walking, cycling) and public transit use, in a nationally representative sample of Canadian adults, while controlling for other relevant sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., education, income, urbanity). This study also explored how associations between occupational classifications and AC differed by sex and how AC rates may have changed over time.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: The COVID-19 pandemic led to a substantial increase in work from home in Canada. This presentation synthesizes what has been learned to date regarding this increase in work from home and documents its potential implications for productivity, employee retention, commuting, greenhouse gas emissions, and public transit use.

Description: Data on place of work status by language spoken most often at home for the employed labour force aged 15 years and over in private households in Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions, and census subdivisions.

Description: Data on place of work status by language spoken most often at home for the employed labour force aged 15 years and over in private households in census metropolitan areas, tracted census agglomerations and census tracts.

Description: Data on place of work status by language spoken most often at home for the employed labour force aged 15 years and over in private households in Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions, and census subdivisions.

Description: Data on place of work status by language spoken most often at home for the employed labour force aged 15 years and over in private households in census metropolitan areas, tracted census agglomerations and census tracts.

Description: Data on place of work status by main mode of commuting, time leaving for work, and commuting duration for employed persons aged 15 years and over, with a usual place of work or no fixed workplace address, in private households in Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions, and census subdivisions.

Description: Data on place of work status by main mode of commuting, time leaving for work, and commuting duration for employed persons aged 15 years and over, with a usual place of work or no fixed workplace address, in private households in census metropolitan areas, tracted census agglomerations and census tracts.

Description: Data on place of work status by highest certificate, diploma or degree and gender for the employed labour force aged 15 years and over in private households in Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions.

Description: Data on place of work status by highest certificate, diploma or degree and gender for the employed labour force aged 15 years and over in private households in census metropolitan areas, tracted census agglomerations and census tracts.

Description: Data on place of work status by language spoken most often at home for the employed labour force aged 15 years and over, in private households in Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions, and census subdivisions of work.

Description: Data on place of work status by language spoken most often at home for the employed labour force aged 15 years and over, in private households in census metropolitan areas, tracted census agglomerations and census tracts of work.

Description: Data on commuting duration by main mode of commuting and time arriving at work for the employed labour force 15 years and over having a usual place of work, in private households in Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions of work.

Description: Data on commuting duration by main mode of commuting and time arriving at work for the employed labour force 15 years and over having a usual place of work, in private households in census metropolitan areas, tracted census agglomerations and census tracts of work.

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Based on 2016 Census data, the following infographic looks at Canadians’ average commute time, how they get to work, as well as the average commute time for those living in Canada’s largest census metropolitan areas.

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This National Household Survey in brief presents key findings emerging from the analysis of data on place of work and journey to work in Canada in 2011. It provides information on workers' mode of transportation, their place of work and their commuting time. The analysis focuses on various levels of geography, including Canada and census metropolitan areas (CMAs).

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This article examines various facets of travelling between home and work. First it provides information about commuting times and how frequently workers are caught in traffic. Second, it looks at workers' perceptions of the time they spend commuting as well as car users' perceptions of public transit. Finally a connection is drawn between the characteristics of commuting to work (commuting time, recurrence of traffic congestion, etc.) and selected subjective measures of quality of life, including stress levels and satisfaction with work-life balance.

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This bulletin presents baseline data on the pattern and size of rural commuting flows in 2001 and provides a better understanding of how rural communities are affected by both urban-bound commuters and rural-bound commuters. It also shows that Canada's Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations (larger urban centres), which are delineated on the basis of commuting flows, essentially constitute self-contained labour markets.

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This article examines driving and commuting patterns from a gender perspective. Trip chaining, the practice of stopping at intermediate points during a journey, is analyzed using data from the 2005 Canadian Vehicle Survey. Next-stage destinations and the number of stops made while driving are compared for men and women.

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It is generally assumed that for most workers, commuting is at best a necessary evil, at worst, a daily nightmare. But is that really the case? Using the latest data from the 2005 General Social Survey on time use, this study identifies the main factors associated with a more or less pleasant commute, focusing in particular on the mode of transportation used.

Description:

Using data from the General Social Survey on Time Use for 1992, 1998, and 2005, this article analyses the changes in average commute times between home and work. Information is broken down by province, selected census metropolitan areas and mode of transportation used.

There is also an analysis of the factors involved in increased or decreased commute times for workers between home and work (during weekdays). The analysis shows that in addition to the distance from work, the metropolitan area of residence, whether or not errands are involved and the mode of transportation used all have a major impact on workers' commute times.

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In recent years, commuting patterns have become more complex as employment has grown more rapidly in the suburbs than in city core areas. Faced with few convenient public transit options, the increasing numbers of people who now commute cross-town to jobs in these suburbs overwhelmingly drive to work. This article examines commuting patterns between 1996 and 2001 as they relate to recent job growth in the suburbs. It briefly looks at the demographic characteristics of commuters and explores some of the implications that changing work locations and commute patterns have for infrastructure in Canadian cities.

Description:

The report examined the location of jobs in 27 census metropolitan areas, paying particular attention to developments in Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa-Hull, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. It also analysed the modes commuters used to travel to work, emphasising public transit and car (as driver or passenger) commute modes.

While Canadian metropolitan areas continue to be characterized by a strong concentration of jobs in the downtown core, employment grew faster in the suburbs of Canada's largest metropolitan areas than in the city centres between 1996 and 2001. One characteristic of increasing employment in suburban locations is the shifting of manufacturing activities from the core of the city to the suburbs. Retail trade also shifted away from the central core towards more suburban locations. Relatively few workers employed outside the city centre commuted on public transit, rather, most drove or were a passenger in a car. This tendency to commute by car increased the farther the job was located from the city centre.

Furthermore commute patterns have become more complex, with growth in suburb-to-suburb commutes outpacing traditional commute paths within the city centre, and between the city centre and suburbs. Commuters travelling from suburb to suburb were also much more likely to drive than take public transit.

Despite the decentralization of jobs occurring in the metropolitan areas, public transit did not lose its share of commuters between 1996 and 2001. While more car traffic headed to jobs in the suburbs, a larger share of commuters heading for the city centre took public transit. This kept the total share of commuters who took public transit stable between 1996 and 2001.

The report also found that jobs in the downtown core were higher skilled and higher paid, and that earnings increased faster for jobs in the city centre between 1996 and 2001.

The report uses the 1996 and 2001 censuses of Canada.

Description:

This topic deals with Canadians' journey to work and includes data on workplace location, mode of transportation to work and commuting distance between home and work.

Data from the 2001 Census show that most Canadians work outside the home and that a higher proportion of them is working outside Canada. The data also show that, although the majority of Canadians use their cars to travel to work, more workers, especially in Central Canada, are using public transportation for their daily commute.

All analyses on Canadians' journey to work are available at the national and provincial/territorial levels, as well as for selected census metropolitan areas.

This series includes a number of comprehensive articles that supplement the day-of-release information launched through The Daily. These catalogued articles provide an analytical perspective on the 2001 Census release topics. The number and length of these articles vary for each census release and are based on the 21 census release topics disseminated over 8 major release dates.

More focused articles were disseminated as major releases in The Dailyin the weeks following the official release of the data. Other more specialized articles were also announced in The Daily. The articles in the 2001 Census Analysis Series are available free of charge via the Internet.

Description: This fact sheet offers a summary of content changes for the 2026 Census specific to the following topics: labour market activities, commuting and education. The tested changes for each topic are explained, along with the resulting approach for 2026.

Description: This video is designed to give you a basic understanding of the commuting concepts. It will help you understand the definition of commuting, the target population of commuting questions and why commuting questions are asked. It also describes the census questions that collect data on the three subtopics of commuting.

Description: This reference guide provides information to help users effectively use and interpret commuting data from the 2021 Census. This guide contains definitions and explanations of concepts, questions, classifications, data quality and comparability with other sources for this topic.

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This fact sheet offers a concise overview of updated—new or modified—content for the 2021 Census of Population that is specific to the theme of education, labour, commuting, and Veterans, which includes the following topics: education, labour market conditions, commuting to work, and Veteran and military service. The changes considered for these topics are explained, along with the resulting approach for 2021.

Description:

This guide focuses on the following topic: journey to work. This reference guide provides information that enables users to effectively use, apply and interpret data from the 2016 Census. This guide contains definitions and explanations of concepts, classifications, data quality and comparability to other sources. Additional information is included for specific variables to help general users better understand the concepts and questions used in the census.

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The Journey to work Release and concepts overview provides an overview of the concepts, definitions and key measures used in the 2016 Census of Journey to work release, as well as the products which will be available on release day and later.

Description:

This reference guide provides information that enables users to effectively use, apply and interpret data from the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS). This guide contains definitions and explanations of concepts, classifications, data quality and comparability to other sources. Additional information is included for specific variables to help general users better understand the concepts and questions used in the NHS.

Description:

This guide focuses on the following topic: Journey to work.

Provides information that enables users to effectively use, apply and interpret data from the 2006 Census. Each guide contains definitions and explanations on census concepts, data quality and historical comparability. Additional information will be included for specific variables to help general users better understand the concepts and questions used in the census.

Description:

This guide focuses on the following topic: Journey to work.

Provides information that enables users to effectively use, apply and interpret data from the 2006 Census. Each guide contains definitions and explanations on census concepts. Additional information will be included for specific variables to help general users better understand the concepts and questions used in the census.

Description:

This report includes a definition of the 2001 place of work concept and the place of work geography, standard text on data collection and coverage (including data collection methods, special coverage studies, sampling and weighting, edit and follow-up, coverage and content considerations). Both standard and subject-matter specific text pieces are also included for data assimilation (automated as well as interactive coding), edit and imputation and data evaluation. Finally, this technical report includes a section on historical comparability.