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In the pursuit of our common vision
of making Canada’s roads the safest
in the world


Road Safety

Addressing road crash casualties is a challenge that each country in the world is facing. Making improvements to our road system of users, infrastructure and vehicles can reduce the number of Canadians that will die or be injured on our roads.  This is particularly important as each year in Canada about 1,800 people are killed and 150,000 are injured, (approximately 10,000 seriously), while using our road transportation system and costs society $40.7 billion (2.1% of Canadian GDP)1 annually. 

In Canada, responsibility for road safety is divided among municipal, provincial, territorial and federal jurisdictions and together they support making Canadian roads safer. 

1International Transport Forum (2020). Detailed country profile for Canada.


Canada's Road Safety Strategy

Canada's Road Safety Strategy 2025 – Towards Zero: The Safest Roads in the World is Canada's plan to improve safety on our roads.

This strategy builds on the success of earlier campaigns to pursue a long-term vision towards zero fatalities and serious injuries on our roads. It outlines a ten-year timeline to address important road safety issues in Canada, including enhancing enforcement, improving road infrastructure, supporting research, leveraging vehicle safety technologies, and raising public awareness of factors contributing to collisions.  It provides jurisdictions with a framework of best practices to address specific road safety challenges.

Canada’s roads are the safest they’ve been in 60 years; however, we must remain vigilant and that’s why all governments have agreed to pursue a common vision of making our roads the safest in the world.


Drugs and Driving

Drug impaired driving is a growing road safety concern in Canada. Impairment, whether from cannabis, alcohol, prescription or illegal drugs, fatigue or other factors, is a significant road safety issue.

CCMTA members continue to collaborate and work collectively to identify best practices and approaches to policy, legislation, research, public education, and enforcement to address drug impaired driving.

By working together and sharing knowledge, members can determine and evaluate the best strategies to address drug impaired driving and discuss potential solutions that have a pan-Canadian impact.

Alcohol and Drug Roadside Surveys:

Roadside surveys have been conducted by a number of Canadian jurisdictions over the years, including British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Northwest Territories and Yukon. These surveys were originally developed to assess alcohol use by drivers, but over time, methods have been adjusted to include drug use by drivers.

Additional Research and Resources:

Alcohol and Drug Crash Problem in Canada

This report describes the magnitude and characteristics of the alcohol-crash and drug-crash problems in Canada during a particular year, trends in these problems, and comparisons between jurisdictions.

It examines data on alcohol in fatally injured drivers and pedestrians; the number and percent of people who died in alcohol-related crashes; alcohol involvement in those crashes in which someone was seriously injured but not killed; and data on drugs in fatally injured drivers.


Distracted Driving

Driver distraction and inattention is one of the leading contributing factors to fatal and serious injury collisions across Canada and as such, CCMTA members recognize that it is a serious and growing threat to road safety in Canada.

Distracted driving is when a driver’s attention is diverted from the driving task by secondary activities (e.g., eating, talking to passengers, talking, or texting on electronic communication devices (ECDs) such as cell phones and smart phones). Although there are many forms of ‘distracted driving’, much of the reported evidence available is related to electronic communication device use.

CCMTA supports its members by providing information and knowledge as they develop policy and legislation to address distracted driving:

Surveys on the Use of Electronic Communication Devices (ECDs) in Canada

Combined Urban / Rural Areas:

Urban Areas:

Rural Areas:


Additional Research and Resources

Countermeasures to Improve Pedestrian Safety
Public Opinion Survey on Road Safety

Road Safety Award

Created in support of Canada's Road Safety Strategy 2025: Towards Zero - The Safest Roads in the World, the Road Safety Award recognizes CCMTA government members or associates (individuals, groups, departments, and/or organizations) who have implemented strategies aimed at reducing injury and death on Canada's roads.   


Collision Data

Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision Statistics

These pamphlets, published by Transport Canada from data supplied by CCMTA member jurisdictions, details Canadian collision statistics on a yearly basis.


National Collision Database (NCDB) Online

Transport Canada has undertaken to release a subset of the National Collision Database (NCDB) – a database containing all police-reported motor vehicle collisions on public roads in Canada from data supplied by CCMTA member jurisdictions. Selected variables (data elements) relating to fatal and injury collisions for the collisions from 1999 to the most recent available data are now accessible through NCDB  Online.