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On the Move

Every time you strap your child in a car seat; take a ferry from Nova Scotia to Prince Edward Island; fly to a wedding in Swift Current, Saskatchewan; or take a train through the Canadian Rockies, Transport Canada is working for you.

Our Promise

Proudly working every day to keep Canada's transportation system safe, serve Canadians, protect the environment and support the economy.

Our Priorities

Transport Canada has four top priorities. They are safety, security, the economy and the environment.

Your safety

Transport Canada works hard to keep Canada's air, marine, rail and road transportation system among the safest in the world and worthy of your confidence. Because we want anyone using our transportation networks to travel or move their goods safely, we:

Transport Canada works to ensure that dangerous goods, essential to our modern way of life, are transported safely across Canada by road, rail, water and air.

  • research how accidents happen and work with industry to prevent accidents in areas where they are most likely to occur;
  • promote public safety during the transportation of dangerous goods;
  • set and enforce regulations and industry standards; and
  • monitor compliance and conduct tests and inspections.

Your security

Transport Canada develops and enforces security regulations, and promotes ways to identify, prevent or reduce risks and threats to Canadians. For example, our Passenger Protect program keeps people who may pose a threat from boarding a flight.

We work with experts, stakeholders and other government agencies to keep Canadians secure, help prevent terrorist attacks on our transportation networks and to keep them from being used as a weapon.

We also plan, train and exercise for, and respond to, all emergencies that affect and/or require the support of any part of the national transportation system.

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, new security measures include screening all air passengers and luggage.

The economy

Canada's Economic Action Plan includes billions of dollars in new funding for roads, bridges, border crossings and transit projects. Transport Canada also manages some Building Canada Plan and other funds for building and improving our country's railways and eligible airports and marine ports.

Transport Canada programs also help make Canada's economy strong by creating jobs and attracting business, trade and tourists. How?

We manage funds for infrastructure projects that create jobs and help make Canada's one of the safest, most efficient and most secure transportation systems in the world.

Gateways are entry points by road, rail, airports and ports. Trade corridors connect gateways to the rest of Canada and North America. These transportation systems are very important to Canada's international trade and competitiveness in the global economy.

The Government of Canada's three gateway initiatives are:

  • the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor, which is the quickest route for goods to travel between Asia and North America.
  • the Atlantic Gateway, which offers the closest ports in North America for ships passing through the Suez Canal.
  • the Ontario-Quebec Continental Gateway and Trade Corridor, which is a secure and efficient point of entry for international trade with central United States.

The environment

Transport Canada is working hard to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the air, land and water pollution directly linked to road, rail, air and marine transportation.

Many of our policies and programs support the Government of Canada's clean air agenda, reduce the harmful impact of transportation on Canada's air, land and water, and protect the health of Canadians and the environment.

Our clean air programs help reduce air emissions by:

  • supporting industry efforts to adopt green technology;
  • displaying cleaner vehicles at events as a way to help buyers make cleaner choices;
  • promoting best practices and behaviours; and
  • helping to build stakeholder knowledge and capacity to reduce air emissions.

Our clean water programs regulate and monitor discharges from marine vessels in our waterways and enforce rules to prevent marine pollution.

Air pollution from transportation emissions has greatly decreased over the last 20 years.

But greenhouse gas emissions from transportation increased 31 per cent from 1990 to 2006 because:

  • passenger activity increased 33 per cent; and
  • freight activity increased 60 per cent.

Our People

Since Transport Canada sets, monitors and enforces road, rail, air and marine safety and security standards, we require a highly trained and experienced staff.

Our inspectors, engineers, pilots, strategic planners and policy advisors all work together to keep our promise to Canadians. Many work in our five regional centres in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Moncton. Others work in the field: from the Ship Registrar's office in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, to the pilot examination centre in Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, and all points in between!

Our Partners

Canada depends on transportation to safely connect Canadians with each other and the world. Transport Canada sets and enforces the rules that govern our country's transportation system. We also work with many partners.

Industry

Transport Canada works with manufacturers to develop standards so that motor vehicles, ships and boats, trains and planes — of all makes and sizes — are safe to operate.

We work with the airlines, railroads and marine companies to set training, licensing, maintenance and service standards so that they provide safe, secure and efficient service.

We work with airports, ports and railroads to set security standards so Canadians can travel without fear.

Government departments

Transport Canada works with many other federal government departments. For example, we work with Environment Canada to find cleaner ways to move people and goods. We also work with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to reach agreements with other countries under our Blue Sky policy, which gives Canadian airlines opportunities to grow and Canadians more choices for flights to more places.

Other levels of government

Transport Canada works closely with the provinces and territories, regions, cities and foreign governments because:

  • decisions about transportation affect Canadians and their communities;
  • transportation regulations are often enforced at these levels;
  • industries and services work from many locations, span great distances and cross borders; and
  • transportation companies must comply with international agreements and regulations.

Our Portfolio

Transport Canada is part of the Transport, Infrastructure and Communities portfolio, which includes Transport Canada; Infrastructure Canada; and a number of agencies, crown corporations and airport and port authorities. They all have an impact on Canadian communities.

How does it work? Transport Canada, Infrastructure Canada and the other portfolio partners work together to support infrastructure projects that create jobs and make it safe and easy to move people and goods across town and around the globe — making sure that projects improve communities and respect the environment. A shared response saves time and money.

Working for You

Transport Canada works in many ways, in many places and with many people and groups so the plane that flies you to Winnipeg is safe and its crew is well trained; so the grain travelling by rail from the Prairies will be quickly loaded into cargo vessels in both Thunder Bay and Vancouver; so long haul truckers get enough rest between shifts; and so that new technologies make transportation cleaner and safer than ever.

Learn more about Transport Canada at www.tc.gc.ca

or

Contact us by:

E–;mail: Questions@tc.gc.ca
Phone: 613–990–2309
Fax: 613–954–4731 / 613–998–8620
Teletypewriter (TTY): 1–888–675–6863

Mail: Transport Canada
330 Sparks Street
Ottawa ON  K1A 0N5


© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Transport, 2009.

Transport Canada grants permission to copy and/or reproduce the contents of this publication for personal and public non-commercial use. Users must reproduce the materials accurately, identify Transport Canada as the source and not present theirs as an official version, or as having been produced with the help or the endorsement of Transport Canada.

To request permission to reproduce materials from this publication for commercial purposes, contact:

Publishing and Depository Services
Public Works and Government Services Canada
Ottawa ON  K1A 0S5
droitdauteur.copyright@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca

TP 14863
TC 1003107
Catalogue No. T22–124/2009
ISBN 978–0–662–06634–7

To purchase or to view/download alternate formats of this publication, visit Transport Canada's Online Publications Storefront or contact Transport Canada's Publications Order Desk at 1–888–830–4911 — International at 613–991–4071.

To request an accessible version of this publication, please contact Transport Canada's Publications Order Desk at 1–888–830–4911 — International at 613–991–4071.

Date modified:
2011-07-05