There might not be anything more conducive to relocation than a traffic jam. After all, how many of us have shouted “I’m done with this town” when crawling along in gridlock?

But before you pack up for the next biggest city, take a peek at a recent report from the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA). Analyzing provincial and municipal traffic volumes and GPS data, the report identified the worst bottlenecks in Canada, which can all be found in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Here they are:

1. Toronto: Highway 401 between Highway 427 and Yonge Street

2. Toronto: Don Valley Parkway between Don Mills Road and Finch Avenue

3. Montreal: Highway 40 between Boulevard Pie-IX and Highway 520

4. Toronto: Gardiner Expressway between the South Kingsway and Bay Street

5. Montreal: Highway 15 between Highway 40 and Chemin de la Côte-Saint-Luc

6. Toronto: Highway 401 between Bayview Avenue and Don Mills Road

7. Toronto: Highway 409 between Highway 401 and Kipling Avenue

8. Montreal: Highway 25 between Avenue Souligny and Rue Beaubien East

9. Vancouver: Granville Street at Southwest Marine Drive

10. Vancouver:  West Georgia Street between Seymour Street and West Pender Street

Highlighting the fact that these bottlenecks result in a loss of about 22 million litres of fuel per year, CAA spokesman Ian Jack told the CBC that it was time for urgent policy change.

“It may be a matter of pouring concrete and asphalt in some cases, but there are a lot of other solutions as well. Whether that’s metered on-ramps, high-occupancy lanes, other ways of addressing these issues, we encourage policy-makers to use the whole tool kit to focus in on these areas that are clearly of highest impact.”

In case you’re wondering what commute times are like in these cities, you should know that Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver are in the top five for worst average commute times in Canada (with movement to and from Toronto likely impacting averages in Oshawa and Barrie as well).

Here is the most recent census data from StatsCan:

1. Toronto
Average commute to work: 32.8 minutes

2. Oshawa
Average commute to work: 31.8 minutes

3. Montreal
Average commute to work: 29.7 minutes

4. Barrie
Average commute to work: 29.6 minutes

5. Vancouver
Average commute to work: 28.4 minutes

6. Calgary
Average commute to work: 27.0 minutes

7. Hamilton
Average commute to work: 26.9 minutes

8. Ottawa – Gatineau (Ontario/Quebec)
Average commute to work: 26.3 minutes

9. Ottawa – Gatineau (Quebec side)
Average commute to work: 26.7 minutes

10. Ottawa – Gatineau (Ontario side)
Average commute to work: 26.2 minutes

So where can you go if you want to spend less time in your car? Here are the Canadian cities with the best average commute times:


1. Thunder Bay
Average commute to work: 17.1 minutes

2. Regina
Average commute to work: 17.3 minutes

3. Trois-Rivières
Average commute to work: 18.6 minutes

4. Sherbrooke
Average commute to work: 18.8 minutes

5. Saguenay
Average commute to work: 16.9 minutes

6. Moncton
Average commute to work: 17.2 minutes

7. John’s
Average commute to work: 17.9 minutes

8. Saskatoon
Average commute to work: 19.9 minutes

9. Greater Sudbury
Average commute to work: 20.1 minutes

10. Kingston
Average commute to work: 20.4 minutes

Saskatchewan comes out looking pretty good here, with both Regina and Saskatoon (the largest cities on the list) cracking the top ten. What’s the morale of this story? If you want to stop slamming your steering wheel in frustration, you might want to consider moving to Saskatchewan.