Energy Use in the Transportation Sector

Diesel consumption increased 26% between 2000 to 2019, which was driven by the increasing use of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles on Canadian roads. Moreover, motor gasoline consumption, including ethanol, increased 26%, with freight transportation vehicles and passenger vehicles accounting for 48% and 40% of that increase, respectively.

Toward the end of the 1970s, the Canadian government proposed voluntary targets for the automotive industry. Performance standards for passenger vehicles improved from 13.1 L/100 km to 8.6 L/100 km between 1978 and 1985, but saw little further change up to 2010, because no strict fuel efficiency standards were in place. Targets for light trucks were introduced in 1990, resulting in a performance improvement from 11.8 L/100 km to 10.0 L/100 km by 2010.

In October 2010, the Government of Canada approved the Passenger Automobile and Light Truck Greenhouse Gas Emission Regulations. The goal of these regulations was to reduce CO₂ emissions by 12% to 19%, depending on the light-duty vehicle category.

For 2017–2025 model year passenger vehicles, the GHG emission target value applicable to a given vehicle’s footprint is expected to decrease by 5% on average per year, using the 2016 model year standards as the baseline and applying that rate each year, up to and including the 2025 model year. Most light trucks face greater challenges in terms of GHG emissions than typical passenger vehicles due to their specific features (towing capacity, storage room, additional passenger seat). Consequently, the target values for GHG emissions for 2017–2021 model year light trucks have decreased by a lower annual rate, i.e. 3.5%. In recent years, initiatives and regulations designed to encourage technological progress were introduced for all other transportation modes as well as to increase their energy efficiency and improve their performance.

Energy efficiency improvements in the transportation sector resulted in savings of $14.1 billion for Canadians in 2019.

Energy efficiency in the transportation sector improved 23% between 2000 and 2019, resulting in savings of 488.6 PJ in energy in 2019. These savings were driven by energy efficiency improvements in passenger transportation (263.3 PJ) and freight transportation (225.3 PJ).

A growing number of Canadians bought light trucks (including minivans and sport utility vehicles [SUVs]) instead of vehicles with a better fuel consumption rating. Light truck sales accounted for 59% of all new passenger vehicles sold in 2019, compared to 36% in 2000. This shift from cars to light trucks has resulted in a significant increase in passenger-transportation energy consumption. Light truck energy consumption increased at a faster pace (i.e. 71%) between 2000 and 2019 than any other mode of passenger transportation (except for motorcycles, which represent a small share of consumption).

Air transport is also more popular. Since 2000, Canadians are increasingly using air transport^{Footnote 4}, resulting in a significant increase of Pkm (122%). However, energy consumption only increased by 44%, which shows a growing improvement in efficiency.

The mix of fuels used in the freight transportation subsector remained relatively constant between 2000 and 2019. Diesel was the main energy source, representing 63% of all the fuels consumed for freight transportation.

Just-in-time delivery stimulated the demand for heavy truck transportation^{Footnote 6}.

Using transport vehicles as virtual warehouses requires a transportation system that is “in time” and very efficient. The number of heavy trucks increased by 62.2% from 2000 to 2019. This new trend has contributed to the increase in the number of Tkm and energy use in the freight transportation subsector. Heavy trucks transported 280 billion Tkm in 2019, an increase of 38.3% compared to 2000.

For many goods, such as coal and cereal, trucks are not an efficient mode of transportation. Rail and marine transport continue to be the modes of choice. They therefore have an important place in the freight transportation sector. Rail transport holds the first position in terms of Tkm of freight transported with 451.2 billion Tkm in 2019, 40% more than in 2000.