Natural Resources Canada
Symbol of the Government of Canada

Office of Energy Efficiency Links

 

Office of Energy Efficiency

Menu

2008 Canadian Vehicle Survey Update Report

PDF Version | Table of Contents | Next Page

Chapter 1. Canada’s on-road vehicle fleet

Canada’s transportation sector includes activities related to transporting passengers and goods by road, rail, water and air. In 2007, this sector’s energy consumption accounted for 29 percent of total secondary energy use in Canada.¹ Road transportation, the subject of the Canadian Vehicle Survey (CVS), consumes more than three quarters of this energy. Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transportation sector – almost 180 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions – accounted for almost half of direct end-use GHG emissions.² In fact, the transportation sector emits more GHGs than any other end-use sector in Canada.

This chapter describes the key characteristics of Canada’s on-road vehicle fleet according to CVS data. These data encompass the entire on-road vehicle fleet, with certain exceptions such as buses and motorcycles. For a description of the methodology employed by the CVS, refer to Annex B.

1.1 Number and age of vehicles

Table 1 shows the number of vehicles in Canada in 2000 and 2008, as well as the growth rates during this period. Vehicles are divided into three categories according to weight:

  • light vehicles – gross vehicle weight less than 4.5 tonnes (t)
  • medium trucks – gross vehicle weight between 4.5 and 15 t
  • heavy trucks – gross vehicle weight of 15 t or more

In 2008, the number of in-scope vehicles totalled 20.2 million according to the CVS.³ Light vehicles represented 96 percent of the total, with medium and heavy trucks each accounting for about 2 percent. As can be seen in Table 1, the growth rate of medium and heavy trucks exceeded that of light vehicles over the period. While light vehicles increased by nearly 17 percent, medium and heavy trucks grew by close to 30 percent.

Table 1 Number of vehicles in Canada by vehicle type, 2000 and 2008, and the growth rate

Vehicles Growth rate
  2000 2008 Total Average annual rate
Light vehicles 16 642 140 A 19 426 504 A 16.7% 2.0%
Medium trucks 319 500 A 412 811 B 29.2% 3.3%
Heavy trucks 255 503 A 327 106 B 28.0% 3.1%
Total 17 217 143 A 20 166 421 A 17.1% 2.0%

The letter to the right of each estimate indicates its quality: A – Excellent, B – Very good, C – Good,
D – Acceptable, E – Use with caution and F – Too unreliable to be published.

Due to rounding, the numbers in the tables may not add up, and some data may differ slightly from one table to the next.

Figure 1 shows the age distribution of vehicles in 2008. About one fifth (19 percent) of light vehicles were less than three years old and nearly half (49 percent) were between three and nine years old. The high growth of medium and heavy trucks has meant that one quarter of the fleet was less than three years old in 2008. However, the fleet also retained a large number of older vehicles, with almost 40 percent of the fleet being more than nine years old in 2008.

Figure 1 Age of vehicle fleet by vehicle type, 2008.

1.2 Vehicle-kilometres

In 2008, Canadian vehicles travelled almost 326 billion kilometres (km) (see Figure 2). Light vehicles accounted for slightly more than 90 percent of vehicle-kilometres (VKM) travelled. Although medium and heavy trucks comprised less than 4 percent of the vehicle stock, they accounted for the remaining 10 percent of VKM, indicating that they were driven further than light vehicles on average.

Figure 2 Vehicle-kilometres travelled by vehicle type, 2000 to 2008.

VKM increased at an average rate of 0.7 percent per year from 2000 to 2008, although decreases in total VKM were observed in 2001, 2003 and 2008. The largest drop was in 2008 when VKM decreased by 2.0 percent, coinciding with a peak in gasoline and diesel prices.4 Over the entire period, average annual growth rates of VKM have been highest for medium trucks (4.5 percent), followed by heavy trucks (1.2 percent) and light vehicles (0.5 percent).

1.3 Fuel consumption

Table 2 lists the number of vehicles according to fuel type consumed in 2008. Virtually all vehicles (more than 99 percent) consumed either gasoline (including up to 10 percent ethanol blends) or diesel. Light vehicles primarily used gasoline (about 97 percent) while heavy vehicles primarily used diesel (also about 97 percent). Meanwhile, medium trucks were more varied in their fuel consumption, with about 75 percent running on diesel and the remainder running on gasoline.

Other types of fuel used by Canadians included electricity, propane, natural gas and 85 percent ethanol/gasoline blends.5 These fuels were used by less than 1 percent of all vehicles.

Table 2 Vehicles in Canada by vehicle type and fuel type, 2008

Fuel Vehicles Total
Light vehicles Medium trucks Heavy trucks
Gasoline 18 808 773 A 107 160 E – F 18 923 790 A
Diesel 542 224 E 299 648 C 318 528 B 1 160 400 C
Other – F – F – F – F
Total 19 426 504 A 412 811 B 327 106 B 20 166 421 A

Figure 3 shows gasoline and diesel consumption rates in 2005 and 2008 for each vehicle type.6 Fuel consumption remained constant for light vehicles (10.6 and 11.4 L/100 km for gasoline and diesel, respectively). Fuel consumption rates decreased for medium trucks (from 26.6 to 23.0 L/100 km for gasoline-powered trucks and 26.4 to 23.3 L/100 km for diesel-powered trucks). However, fuel consumption rates for heavy trucks fluctuated between 2005 and 2008 and ended the period at 35.3 L/100 km, up marginally from 35.1 L/100 km in 2005.

Figure 3 Fuel consumption rate by vehicle type and fuel type, 2005 and 2008.

¹ Office of Energy Efficiency, 2009, Energy Use Data Handbook, 1990 to 2007.

² Direct emissions exclude emissions from the electricity generation sector.

³ See the glossary in Annex D for a definition of in-scope vehicles.

4 Natural Resources Canada, 2010, The Fuel Focus Report, www.nrcan.gc.ca/eneene/sources/pripri/latder-eng.php.

5 For more information on alternative fuels, visit oee.nrcan.gc.ca/transportation/vehicle-fuels.cfm.

6 This year is used because prior to 2005 a different methodology was employed for estimating fuel consumption.

Previous Page | Contents | Next Page