Canadian Freight & Trucking Statistics 2026
Every number on this page is cited to its primary source — Transport Canada, Statistics Canada, the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, port authorities and industry bodies. Free to cite with attribution.
Compiled by Aleksandrs Smetanins, President, Qeep Logistics · Last verified July 26, 2026
Canada’s freight economy in one paragraph: transportation and warehousing contribute $96.5 billion a year — 4.3% of GDP — with roughly 152,000 trucking businesses and 316,000 truck drivers moving 46% of the country’s $1.55 trillion in merchandise trade by road. The US–Canada trade lane alone was worth US$712.8 billion in 2025, and trucks carried 55.7% of it. Meanwhile the Port of Vancouver set a record 3.47 million TEUs, railways moved 329.2 million tonnes, and the industry still faces a projected 40,400 unfilled jobs by 2030. The details — and the sources — are below.
How big is the Canadian trucking and freight industry?
Canada's transportation and warehousing sector directly contributed $96.5 billion to the economy in 2024 — 4.3% of national GDP.
Source: Transport Canada, Transportation in Canada 2024 Annual Report
Approximately 152,000 trucking businesses were operating in Canada as of December 2024.
Source: Transport Canada, Transportation in Canada 2024 Annual Report
Total trucking transportation output in Canada reached $138.6 billion in 2022, up 18.2% from $117.3 billion in 2021. Own-account (private fleet) trucking made up 30.4% of the total.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Transportation Economic Account, 2022
46% of Canada's $1.55 trillion in 2024 merchandise trade moved by road — ahead of marine (21.1%), air (11.6%) and rail (10.5%).
Source: Transport Canada, Transportation in Canada 2024 Annual Report
Canada–US cross-border trade statistics
Freight moved between the United States and Canada was valued at US$712.8 billion in 2025, down 6.4% from 2024.
Source: US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transborder Freight Data Annual Report 2025
Trucks carried 55.7% of all US–Canada trade value in 2025 — far ahead of pipeline (13.4%) and rail (12.6%).
Detroit was the top US–Canada truck crossing in 2025 at US$94.2 billion (23.7% of truck trade), followed by Port Huron (US$87.3B) and Buffalo–Niagara Falls (US$70.1B).
Nearly 3 million trucks cross the Windsor–Detroit corridor every year, carrying roughly one quarter of all Canada–US traded goods — more than $300 billion in annual trade.
Source: Truck News (Newcom Media), 2026
Truck driver workforce and shortage
Just over 316,000 truck drivers were employed across Canada at the 2021 Census — about 43% of the entire trucking and logistics workforce.
Under the baseline scenario, 40,400 trucking and logistics jobs will be vacant in Canada by 2030.
There were roughly 13,900 vacant truck driver positions in Q1 2025 — a 3.5% vacancy rate, down 24% year-over-year but still about 1.5× the all-economy average.
Source: Trucking HR Canada Labour Market Snapshot, via Inside Logistics, 2025
Women represent only 4% of Canada's truck drivers (up from 3% in 2016), while immigrants account for 30% of the sector's workforce.
Canadian port and container statistics
The Port of Vancouver's four container terminals handled 3.47 million TEUs in 2024, up 11% from 2023, as total cargo hit a record 158 million metric tonnes (+5%).
Source: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, 2024 year-end statistics
The Port of Montreal handled 1,464,320 TEUs in 2024 (down 4.8%), within total traffic of 35.41 million tonnes (+0.2%).
The Port of Halifax handled 509,273 TEUs in 2024, down 6.8% from 546,163 TEUs in 2023, with total cargo of 9.60 million tonnes.
Source: Halifax Port Authority data, via Maritime Magazine, 2025
The Port of Prince Rupert moved 23.1 million tonnes of cargo in 2024, with intermodal volumes at Fairview Container Terminal up 5% year-over-year.
Rail and intermodal freight in Canada
Canadian rail freight tonnage rose 1.1% to 329.2 million tonnes in 2024.
Canadian rail operating revenues rose 3.6% to $21.6 billion in 2024, including $19.5 billion in freight revenue.
CN's network spans roughly 20,000 route-miles across Canada and mid-America, connecting ports on three coasts and moving more than C$250 billion worth of goods a year.
Source: CN, corporate overview, 2026
Canada's railways move roughly $380 billion worth of goods annually and invested $2.9 billion in network safety and capacity in the latest reported year.
Canadian spot market and freight demand
Spot market data shifts monthly — these are the latest published figures at the time of our last update.
Canadian spot market load volumes in April 2026 were 44% higher than a year earlier, with a truck-to-load ratio of 1.86 trucks per load.
Source: Loadlink Technologies, Canadian Freight Index, April 2026
Cross-border loads made up 59% of Canadian spot market postings in April 2026, with outbound Canada-to-US volumes up 122% year-over-year.
Source: Loadlink Technologies, Canadian Freight Index, April 2026
Methodology and citation policy
Statistics on this page are compiled from publicly available primary sources — government agencies, port authorities and industry associations — and each figure links directly to the document it comes from. Numbers are quoted as published, not rounded or extrapolated. Spot-market figures change monthly and carry their reporting month. Journalists, researchers and bloggers are welcome to cite this page with attribution and a link to qeeplogistics.com. Found an error or a newer figure? Tell us and we’ll correct it.
Where Qeep fits
Qeep Logistics is a Toronto-based freight brokerage and 3PL working inside these numbers every day — container drayage at Toronto’s rail ramps, transloading, LTL, full truckload and daily Canada–US cross-border freight. If you’re a journalist looking for a working logistics operator to comment on Canadian freight, or a shipper who wants these market forces working for you, get in touch.
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