Commuting Patterns and Places of Work of Canadians, 2006 Census: Highlights

National, provincial and territorial portraits

• The median distance travelled by Canadian workers to get to work has increased by 8.6% over the past 10 years, rising from 7.0 kilometres in 1996 to 7.2 kilometres in 2001 and 7.6 kilometres in 2006.
• Despite the fact that 1,263,400 more workers had to travel to work, the proportion of those driving their cars fell slightly, from 73.8% in 2001 to 72.3% in 2006.
• The proportion of Canadian commuters using public transit to get to work continued to rise, from 10.1% in 1996 to 10.5% in 2001 and 11.0% in 2006. The proportion of workers commuting as passengers rose from 6.9% in 2001 to 7.7% in 2006.
• In 2006, 6.4% of workers walked to work, down from 1996 (7.0%) and 2001 (6.6%).
• The proportion of people whose usual place of work was their home has fallen over the past 10 years, from 8.2% in 1996 to 8.0% in 2001 and 7.7% in 2006. This decrease was largely attributable to the drop in the number of workers employed in agriculture.
• There has been an increase in the number of workers with no fixed workplace address over the past five years (10.3% in 2006, compared to 8.7% in 2001). This increase occurred at the same time that employment rose sharply in the construction sector (+24.7% between 2001 and 2006), an industry in which many workers have no fixed workplace address.

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