It’s no secret that travelling to work takes a long time in some Canadian cities and Statistics Canada has released data on how bad it is in some communities.

The data released on Aug. 26 is based on responses to the Labour Force Survey conducted in May 2022, 2023 and 2024 as well as the census taken in May 2016 and 2021.

Below are some findings.

By May 2024, the average commute time to work for regular commuters was 26.4 minutes, which brings it to pre-pandemic levels. The previous high was in May 2016, clocking in at 26.3 minutes. Commuters who drive a car, truck or van take an average of 24.6 minutes to commute, while public transit users take 43.1 minutes and active transportation users take 14.6 minutes to commute.

The longest commuting times by Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) in May 2024 were as follows:

• Toronto, Ont. – 33.3 minutes
• Oshawa, Ont. – 32.6 minutes
• Barrie, Ont. – 30.7 minutes
• Hamilton, Ont. – 30.6 minutes
• Vancouver, B.C. – 30.5 minutes

The shortest average commute times were in Lethbridge, Alta. (16.6 minutes) and Saguenay, Que. (17 minutes).

May 2024 also saw the third consecutive year where the number of commuters with a long commute (travel time of one hour or more) increased, reaching a level of 9.2 per cent of all commuters. There was a drop during the pandemic, but this number has been increasing since. In May 2023, it was 8.7 per cent, and in May 2022, it was 8.1 per cent.

The CMAs where the greatest percentage of commuters have a long commute (one hour or more) were as follows:

• Oshawa – 20 per cent
• Toronto – 15.7 per cent
• Barrie – 14.6 per cent
• Abbotsford-Mission, B.C. – 14.2 per cent
• Hamilton – 13.8 per cent

The StatCan data includes other information, including that 81.5 per cent of commuters used a car, truck or van to get to work and that 89.5 per cent of those who took a car, truck or van to work were alone in their vehicle.

The percentage of commuters who travel by public transit is still below pre-pandemic levels, coming in at 11.4 per cent in May 2024, which is up since the record low of 7.8 per cent reported in May 2021, but below May 2016 levels of 12.6 per cent.

The full data can be seen on the StatCan website.