Canadian Vehicle Survey 2005, Summary Report

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2. Geographic Analysis

The CVS highlights regional, provincial and territorial variations in the composition and use of the vehicle fleet and in vehicle energy efficiency.

2.1 Composition of the on-road vehicle fleet in the provinces and territories

Provincial and territorial distribution of on-road vehicles in Canada shows that Ontario had the most vehicles in 2005, with a total of about 6.9 million in-scope vehicles. The next highest numbers were in Quebec (4.3 million), Alberta (2.4 million) and British Columbia (2.3 million). These four provinces represented more than 85 percent of all vehicles in Canada. Figure 2.1 shows that there is a high correlation between vehicle distribution in each region of the country and the population of these regions.¹¹

Table 2.1

Number of vehicles in Canada in 2005 by type of vehicle and jurisdiction

Jurisdiction	Light Vehicles	Medium Trucks	Heavy Trucks	Total
Newfoundland and Labrador	249,113 C	3,707 E	2,827 E	255,646 C
Prince Edward Island	76,093 C	1,395 E	2,487 E	79,975 C
Nova Scotia	522,676 B	6,973 E	8,094 D	537,743 B
New Brunswick	436,358 B	5,615 E	4,167 D	446,140 B
Quebec	4,204,345 B	47,537 E	39,781 C	4,291,663 B
Ontario	6,727,791 A	70,245 D	108,936 C	6,906,942 A
Manitoba	620,895 B	9,371 E	15,291 E	645,558 B
Saskatchewan	649,380 B	34,859 E	23,459 E	707,699 B
Alberta	2,207,016 B	81,188 D	72,667 C	2,360,871 B
British Columbia	2,252,578 B	57,455 E	13,867 D	2,323,900 B
Yukon	23,918 B	1,426 C	1,205 B	26,549 A
Northwest Territories	20,297 A	642 C	1,298 B	22,236 A
Nunavut	3,077 A	223 E	F	3,414 B
Total	17,993,468 A	320,635 B	294,193 B	18,608,297 A

The letter to the right of each estimate indicates its quality: A – Excellent, B – Very good, C – Good, D – Acceptable, E – Use with caution, and F – Too unreliable to be published.

Due to rounding, the numbers in the tables may not add up, and some data may differ slightly from one table to the next.

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Light vehicles represent more than 90 percent of the on-road vehicle fleet in all jurisdictions. Medium and heavy trucks represent slightly less than 10 percent of the fleet in the provinces and territories. The percentage of medium trucks in the on-road vehicle fleet is the largest in Nunavut, the Yukon, Saskatchewan and Alberta. This type of vehicle accounted for more than 3 percent of the fleet in these four jurisdictions in 2005. In comparison, medium trucks make up only 2 percent of the Canadian fleet. The percentage of heavy vehicles – that is, medium and heavy trucks – is greater in the fleets of the Prairies and territories than elsewhere in Canada.

As shown in Figure 2.2, the per capita number of vehicles is fairly close to the Canadian average in each jurisdiction except for Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Yukon. The national average was slightly more than one vehicle per two persons in 2005. The per capita number of vehicles is above the national average in Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Yukon. It is interesting to note that Saskatchewan and the Yukon have very well-developed road systems in relation to their population. Transport Canada data show that, in these two jurisdictions, the number of kilometres of road per 1,000 inhabitants is much higher than the Canadian average.¹² Nunavut has the lowest number of vehicles per capita, with only one vehicle per 10 inhabitants in 2005. Unlike the Yukon and Saskatchewan, Nunavut has the least developed highway infrastructure.¹³

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2.2 Vehicle use in the provinces and territories

As illustrated in Table 2.2, the CVS also shows regional differences for distance travelled and fuel consumption. Once again, there seems to be a strong correlation with population; the greatest distances travelled and the highest consumption of gasoline and diesel occurred in the most heavily populated regions.

Table 2.2

Distance travelled by province and territory, and fuel consumption by province in 2005¹⁴

Jurisdiction	Passenger-km (in millions of km)	Passenger-km (in millions of km)	Gasoline (in millions of L)	Diesel (in millions of L)
Newfoundland and Labrador	4,380.7 B	7,350.5 B	F	89.6 E
Prince Edward Island	1,327.6 C	2,282.0 C	F	F
Nova Scotia	10,072.9 B	16,196.1 B	879.7 E	292.3 D
New Brunswick	7,816.6 B	14,421.3 B	772.8 E	87.9 E
Quebec	66,488.3 B	110,692.7 B	5,792.7 E	2,145.5 C
Ontario	125,101.6 A	211,837.4 B	11,566.9 D	3,455.8 B
Manitoba	11,008.2 B	17,773.5 B	1,015.2 E	600.4 C
Saskatchewan	11,154.6 B	18,094.7 B	1,089.3 E	606.4 D
Alberta	44,145.9 B	74,615.6 B	4,320.5 E	2,202.1 B
British Columbia	32,914.0 B	52,430.2 B	3,466.2 E	572.6 E
Yukon	489.4 B	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Northwest Territories	367.8 B	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Nunavut	29.8 C	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Total	315,297.3 A	525,693.8 A	29,457.1 C	10,076.9 A

The letter to the right of each estimate indicates its quality: A – Excellent, B – Very good, C – Good, D – Acceptable, E – Use with caution, and F – Too unreliable to be published.

Due to rounding, the numbers in the tables may not add up, and some data may differ slightly from one table to the next.

As shown in Table 2.2, the CVS estimates that more than one-third of diesel consumption in 2005 was in the three Prairie provinces, although this region accounts for only slightly more than one-fifth of the distance travelled in all Canadian provinces and territories. This consumption may be linked to the high number of heavy vehicles in the vehicle fleet of these Western provinces. The number of heavy vehicles is also reflected in the distances travelled by the various types of vehicles, as shown in Figure 2.3. According to the CVS, light vehicles represent 91.5 percent of vehicle-km in Canada, but only 86 percent of kilometres travelled in the Prairies; medium trucks accounted for 3 percent of vehicle-km in the Prairies and heavy trucks, 11 percent.

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Another variable that reveals some interesting provincial and territorial variations is the average number of vehicle-km travelled by each vehicle. The CVS shows that while there are some regional differences in the use of light vehicles and medium trucks, the distance travelled per vehicle is similar in most jurisdictions. However, the distance travelled per heavy truck appears to vary greatly from one jurisdiction to the next, as shown in Figure 2.4. The Canadian average of 73,266 km is exceeded in only three provinces and one territory: Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec and the Yukon. The CVS estimates that, in Manitoba and Quebec in particular, heavy trucks are used much more intensively than in the rest of Canada, travelling an average of more than 100,000 km each year. The survey shows that the annual distance travelled by a heavy truck is less than 50,000 km in three provinces: New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

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2.3 Provincial fuel consumption rates

Interprovincial variations also emerge with regard to vehicle fuel efficiency. Figure 2.5 illustrates the CVS estimates for gasoline consumption rates among light vehicles in the provinces in 2005.

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The CVS findings presented in Figure 2.5 show that the four provinces with the highest gasoline consumption rates are located west of Ontario. Fuel efficiency rates for light vehicles appear fairly consistent among the other provinces and are slightly better than the Canadian average. The regional differences highlighted in Figure 2.5 can be related to the composition of the vehicle fleet, which differs from one province to the next. For example, CVS estimates in Figure 2.6 show that the percentage of light trucks – vans, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and pickups – in the light vehicle fleet seem to be higher in the provinces west of Ontario. Section 4 of this report shows that light trucks consume more fuel per 100 km, according to CVS data. The CVS estimates also show that a larger percentage of light vehicles in the Prairie provinces and British Columbia are more than 14 years old. These older vehicles are also more likely to have lower fuel efficiency, as stated in section 4.

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Figure 2.7 shows diesel consumption rates per 100 km for medium and heavy trucks. It is interesting to note that, according to the CVS, the fuel efficiency of heavy trucks is slightly above the Canadian average in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba, the three provinces where they are driven the most extensively.¹⁵ British Columbia, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick seem to show a slightly higher diesel consumption rate for their heavy truck fleet. The fuel efficiency of medium trucks varies greatly from one province to the next and does not seem to have any correlation with the fuel efficiency of heavy trucks.

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¹¹ Population statistics are from Statistics Canada, CANSIM, Table (for fee) 051-0001.

¹² Transport Canada, Transportation in Canada 2004 – Annual Report, 2005 www.tc.gc.ca/pol/en/report/anre2004/toc_e.htm.

¹³ There were about 44 km of road per 1,000 inhabitants for all of Canada in 2004. Nunavut had less than 3.5 km per 1,000 inhabitants (Transport Canada, Transportation in Canada 2004 – Annual Report, 2005).

¹⁴ Since information on trips and fuel purchases is not collected in the territories, estimates of passenger-km and fuel consumption cannot be calculated. For more information on the survey's scope and methodology, please refer to Annex B.

¹⁵ Given the confidence interval associated with these estimates, the suggested results may not actually be as evident in reality. For more information, please refer to Annex A.

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