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August 26, 2024COMMUTING, MAY 2024 Statistics Canada has released supplemental information about commuting collected through the labour force survey in May 2024. This information was collected in May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024 as well as during the 2021 and 2016 Censuses. The data refer to those aged 15 to 69 and excludes those in the armed forces as well as those who live on reserves.
Commuting by car remains by far the most common mode of getting to a work location outside the residence. In Nova Scotia, 81.7% of commuters travelled by car, truck or van to work in May 2024. Across Canada, 81.5% of commuters got to work by car, truck or van in May 2024. The highest portion of car, truck or van commuters was in Saskatchewan and the lowest was in British Columbia.
Commuting by car, truck or van decreased in 6 of 10 provinces, with the largest decrease in Nova Scotia - down 3.8 percentage points from 85.5% in May 2023. Manitoba reported the largest increase in the percentage of commuters travelling by car, truck or van.
In Nova Scotia, 8.7% of commuters travelled by public transit. Nationally, 11.4% of commuters took public transit. Larger urban provinces (Ontario, Québec and British Columbia) reported higher shares of public transit commuters. Use of transit was notably lower for commuters in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan.
Compared with May 2023, the portion of commuters using transit in Nova Scotia increased by 2.6 percentage points - the largest gain among provinces. Nationally, the portion of commuters taking transit increased by 1.3 percentage points with faster gains in Nova Scotia and Québec. Transit share of commuting was down in British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick (no data for 2023 in Newfoundland and Labrador or Prince Edward Island).
Nova Scotia reported that 8.6% of commuters relied on active transportation such as walking or cycling. This was the highest share of active transportation commuters among provinces. Nationally, 6.0% of commuters used active transportation, with the lowest portion in Alberta.
From May 2023 to May 2024, Nova Scotia reported the fastest growth in the share of active transport commuters. The share of national commuters using active transport was unchanged over the past year. There were notable declines in active transportation shares in Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan.
Commuters in Nova Scotia reported an average commute time of 23.8 minutes in May 2024. Nationally, average commutes were 26.4 minutes with the longest commutes in Ontario and British Columbia. Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island reported the shortest commute times.
Nova Scotia's average commute times increased by 1.2 minutes over the last year. Nationally, average commute times increased by 0.7 minutes. Saskatchewan reported the largest increase in commute times. Prince Edward Island, Alberta and Manitoba reported falling average commute times over the last year.
Among Canada's 15 largest Census Metropolitan Areas, commute times were longest in Toronto and shortest in Victoria. Halifax average commute times were 25.6 minutes - longer than the provincial average.
The portion of workers who report working mostly from home was 23.9% in the Halifax Census Metropolitan Area in May 2024. This was 4th highest among Canada's 15 largest Census Metropolitan Areas. Ottawa-Gatineau reported a substantially higher portion of workers working mostly from home. St. Catharine's-Niagara reported the lowest portion working mostly from home.
Source: Statistics Canada. Commuting in 2024.
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