Statistics Canada
www.statcan.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
View the most recent version.Archived Content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please contact us to request a format other than those available.
Commuting Patterns and Places of Work of Canadians, 2006 Census: Portrait of census metropolitan areas and their municipalities
Commuting patterns
Commuters to Vaughan, Surrey and Laval made little use of sustainable transportation
The place of work, like the place of residence, has a significant impact on the choice of the mode of transportation used to get to work. Some sectors in urban agglomerations are readily accessible from many starting points, whereas other sectors are difficult to reach other than by car (for example, those at the intersection of major highways).
In 2006, 40.5% of workers whose place of work was in the City of Montréal used a sustainable mode of transportation to get to work, whereas this only applied to 17.0% of those going to work in the municipality of Longueuil and to 13.4% of those going to work in Laval. The same trends emerge among commuters working in Vancouver and Toronto: these central municipalities are frequently reached by workers using public transit, walking or cycling, whereas their peripheral municipalities are mainly reached by car.
Table 14
Number and percentage of commuters by mode of transportation, selected municipalities of place of work, 2001 and 2006
Between 2001 and 2006, 20 of the 25 municipalities with the highest number of workers in 2006 reported an increase in the use of sustainable transportation. For example, the proportion of commuters working in Toronto who used a sustainable mode of transportation rose from 41.1% in 2001 to 43.0% in 2006.
The five exceptions were the municipalities of Longueuil, Laval, Windsor, Winnipeg and Saskatoon, which did not experience any significant change in the proportion of workers using a sustainable mode of transportation.
The maps of the 25 municipalities with the highest number of workers clearly illustrate the impact of the sectors where the jobs are located (set 4). Workers travelling to central neighbourhoods are generally more likely to use a sustainable mode of transportation than those travelling to the outskirts.
