Activity indicators - Transportation Data and Information Hub

Source: Statistics Canada (this custom tabulation is based on table 24-10-0041-01).

Definition: The number of travellers entering Canada from the United States including U.S. citizens entering Canada and Canadian citizens that have travelled out of the country and are returning home. The number of travellers is also available by automobile (car), plane, boat, bus, train and other ways of travelling such as motorcycle or bicycle.

Importance: This number shows the level of tourism activity between the United States and Canada. The number of people travelling between the two countries is bigger than the number of people travelling between Canada and the rest of the world.

Source: Statistics Canada (this custom tabulation is based on table 24-10-0041-01).

Definition: The number of travellers entering Canada, not including travellers from the United States. The number includes non-Canadian citizens entering Canada and Canadian citizens that have travelled out of the country and are returning home. Overseas travellers usually arrive by airplane.

Importance: This number shows an overview of travel between Canada and international locations. The number of travellers from the United States is not included.

Source: Statistics Canada (this tabulation is based on table 24-10-0002-01).

Definition: The Number of commercial vehicles entering Canada from the United States at border locations.

Importance: This number shows the trend of increase or decrease of the amount of truck and commercial traffic crossing the border where travel by road makes up roughly 60% of the value of overall trade between Canada and the United States.

Source: Canadian Port Authorities for Halifax, Montréal, Prince Rupert and Vancouver.

Definition: The number of shipping containers measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) handled at the ports in Halifax, Montréal, Prince Rupert and Vancouver. The value shows the total number of containers and also breaks it down, showing the number of exports (loaded containers) and imports (unloaded containers). TEU is a common way to measure the amount of space in a shipping container as the containers can have different sizes.

Importance: The amount of container traffic handled by the ports shows how much demand there is to move containers in and out of Canada through Canadian ports.

Source: Transport Canada, adapted from Statistics Canada's International Trade Database.

Definition: The value of exports in millions of Canadian dollars for the month. The value of the dollar has not been adjusted for seasonal changes in movements. The value is broken down by mode of transport and also by value of exports to the United States and then the value to the rest of the world. For exports, the mode of transport listed is the mode of transport used to send the merchandise over the Canadian border. This could be different from the mode of transport that is used when the merchandise is shipped within Canada. Total exports includes locally produced goods and foreign produced goods. The foreign produced goods are divided into two groups and both are included. The first is goods that are not modified after being imported, and the second is goods that are modified after being imported.

Importance: This number shows the value of the total amount of Canadian exports. The breakdowns could be used to calculate export shares by mode of transportation, as well as the share of exports to the United States compared exports to the rest of the world. The United States is our largest trading partner.

Source: Transport Canada, adapted from Statistics Canada's International Trade Database.

Definition: Value of imports in millions of Canadian dollars for the month. The value of the dollar has not been adjusted for seasonal changes in movements. The value is broken down by mode of transport and also by value of imports from the United States and then the value from the rest of the world. For imports, the mode of transport listed is the last mode of transport used to move the cargo to the port of clearance in Canada and this is identified from the cargo control documents of customs. This may not be the mode of transport that the cargo arrived at the Canadian port of entry in cases where the import is cleared after it has crossed the border at an inland location.

Importance: This number shows the value of the total amount of Canadian imports. The breakdowns could be used to calculate import shares by mode of transportation, as well as the share of imports from the United States compared to imports from the rest of the world. The United States is our largest trading partner.

Souce: Transport Canada, Electronic Collection of Air Transportation Statistics (ECATS) Database.

Definition: The number of enplaned revenue-passengers in Canada. This includes scheduled and charter air services for domestic (within Canada), transborder (between Canada and the United States) and international travel.

Importance: The number of air passengers provides part of the demand that has been met for passenger service for inter-city passenger travel, along with bus and rail transport.

Source: VIA Rail.

Definition: The total number of passengers carried by VIA Rail, including business and economy class.

Importance: The number provides part of the demand that has been met for scheduled passenger service for inter-city passenger travel, along with bus and air.