Canadian Vehicle Survey

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Vehicles registered in Canada logged 326 billion kilometres in 2006, a 3% increase from 2005. This was the highest annual amount ever recorded by the Canadian Vehicle Survey. Vehicles were driven an average of 17,009 kilometres in 2006, a 0.5% increase compared with 2005. While total kilometres driven have increased, the average number of kilometres driven per vehicle has declined since 2000, when the average was 17,958. This is because the number of vehicles covered by the survey has increased 11% since the survey began.

Light vehicles, which weigh less than 4.5 tonnes and include all cars, sport-utility vehicles, mini-vans and pick-up trucks, were driven more than 296 billion kilometres, an average of 16,015 kilometres per vehicle, or 44 kilometres per day, during 2006.

Drivers in New Brunswick were the busiest among the provinces and territories, with an average of 18,558 kilometres per vehicle. Drivers in British Columbia drove their vehicles the least, with an average of 12,218 kilometres.

Trucks (4.5 tonnes and over) were driven more than 29 billion kilometres (an average of 45,012 kilometres per vehicle) in 2006.

Drivers aged 65 and older continued to spend more time behind the wheel. They accounted for a 13% share of all kilometres driven in the provinces during 2006, compared with a 9% share in 2001. According to 2006 Census data recently released, the share of this age group within the driving-age population increased by about only 1 percentage point between 2001 and 2006.

Vehicle fuel efficiency has improved over the last few years, as all vehicles driven consumed approximately 12.7L/100km in 2006, while they consumed 13.0L/100km in 2004. For light vehicles using gasoline, fuel efficiency improved from 11.1L/100km in 2004 to 10.8L/100km in 2006, a 3% improvement.

The survey measures the activity of all on-road vehicles registered in Canada with the exception of some vehicles, such as buses, motorcycles, construction equipment and road maintenance equipment.

Note: Recent updates to the vehicle registration files have now been incorporated into the Canadian Vehicle Survey counts and estimates for British Columbia. The revisions affect the 2003-to-2005 survey years. Estimated vehicle kilometres in British Columbia have been revised upward by 0.6% for 2003, 2.3% for 2004, and 6.7 % for 2005. Note that these revisions, in turn, affect the national estimates for the same periods, although the magnitude is much smaller; estimated vehicle kilometers in Canada have been revised upward by 0.1% for 2003, 0.4% for 2004, and 0.7% for 2005.

Revisions were also made in order to treat holidays consistently across the reference periods. This affected most variables for 2004. The impacts of the revisions vary depending on the variable, but are generally greatest for tables dealing with the day of the week or the time of the day.

Available on CANSIM: tables 405-0055 to 405-0070, 405-0072 to 405-0086, 405-0088 to 405-0090, 405-0097, 405-0098, 405-0100 and 405-0111 to 405-0120.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2749.

The 2006 issue of Canadian Vehicle Survey: Annual (53-223-XWE, free) will soon be available.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Réjean Doiron (613-951-5680; rejean.doiron@statcan.gc.ca) or Client Services (toll-free 1-866-500-8400; transportationstatistics@statcan.gc.ca), Transportation Division.