Trans-Canada Highway

TheTrans-Canada Highway(TCH)is a series of provincial highways which join all ten provinces ofCanada.Following 8,030 km (just under 5,000 miles) of Trans-Canada Highway across all ten provinces is one of the three longest single-country highway journeys in the world.

Understand

History

Canadais the second largest country in the world by area and a cross-country trip overland was no small obstacle for early travellers to overcome. While the Canadian Pacific Railway's (CPR) last spike opened travelacross Canada by trainin 1885, an "all-red route" (entirely throughBritish territory) by road remained elusive for much of the 20th century. Albert E. Todd (the mayor of Victoria, BC from 1917-1919) had a gold medal struck in 1912, to be offered as a prize for the first car to drive from Nova Scotia across all of Canada to the Pacific. That award remained unclaimed for more than three decades, not through lack of effort, but through lack of infrastructure.

British freelance writer Thomas Wilby ( “A Motor Car Tour Through Canada”,1914) and Reo head mechanic James Haney reached Victoria from Halifax only by carrying their 1912 Reo by train fromNorth BaytoSudbury,by ship across Lake Superior to theLakehead,then back on the train toSelkirk.An attempt to motor on the CPR's rail tracks in British Columbia damaged two of the four tires; their attempt to find an "All-Red Route" failed as they had to cross briefly into the US to avoid mountains between Paterson and Cascade, British Columbia. Later voyagers merely found more of the same; Percy Gomery ( “A Motor Scamper ‘Cross Canada”,1922) left Montreal with his wife to drive home to Vancouver in 1920; they got as far asSault Sainte Marie (Ontario)before having to cross into foreign territory. A wartime effort forced a gravel road through a northern routeHearst-Geraldton-Nipigonin 1943, allowing Brig. R. Alex Macfarlane (rtd.) and former Royal Canadian Air Force squadron leader Ken MacGillivray to drive a new GM 1946 Chevrolet Stylemaster fromLouisbourg,Nova Scotia, to the Pacific as the first to cross the country entirely on Canadian roads. TheTrans-Canada Highway Act(1949) funded construction of the current mainline, which officially opened in 1962. Paving of two lanes coast-to-coast was completed by 1970, making it the most lengthy uninterrupted highway in the world at the time.

Overview

Trans-Canada Highway route marker

Highway 1 route marker

The Trans-Canada Highway system is recognizable by its distinctive white-on-green maple leaf markers.

The Trans-Canada Highway is one of the three-longest single-country highway journeys in the world, along with theHighway 1ring road aroundAustraliaand theTrans-Siberian HighwayacrossRussia(if you ignore the brief detour into neighbouringKazakhstan).

Despite the distances, many Canadians have some interest in seeing the entire country, and driving across Canada is a common way of doing it. The Trans-Canada Highway is not one road but a system of provincial highways that together span the entire country:

• Trans Canada Highway 1(four western provinces, mainline)
• Trans Canada Highway 16-Yellowhead Highway(four western provinces, northern alternate)
• Ontario Highway 17/417(Ontario mainline)
• Ontario Highway 11, Highway 71(mostly-northern alternate)
• Ontario Highway 69/400, Highway 12, Highway 7(southern alternate)
• Québec Autoroutes 40, 20 and 85/Route 185(mainline)
• Québec Route 117/Ontario Highway 66(northern alternate)
• Trans Canada Highway 2(New Brunswick, mainline)
• Trans Canada Highway 104/105(Nova Scotia, mainline)
• Trans Canada Highway 16/1/106(New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, northern alternate)
• Trans Canada Highway 1(Newfoundland, mainline)

It's quicker to list whatisn'ton the Trans-Canada: Labrador, Northeastern Quebec (Gaspé Peninsula,Côte-Nord,Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean), theAcadian Coast,the far north and high Arctic,Southwestern Ontario,the Niagara Peninsula and a chunk of southern Nova Scotia. The highway bypassesTorontoandHalifax.

Prepare

Across Canada by motorcoach? Greyhound Canada, once Canada's major interprovincial coach operator, ended operations in 2021. Crossing Canada with a single ticket is, for now, a thing of the past. The following operators offer service along the Trans-Canada Highway. As of 2022, there is a 120km stretch between Quebec and New Brunswick which is not served by any provider. BC Ferries Connector:VictoriatoVancouver Rider Express:Vancouver-Calgary-Regina-Winnipeg Ontario Northland:Winnipeg-Thunder Bay-Sault Sainte Marie-Sudbury-Ottawa Orléans ExpressOttawa-Montreal-Québec-Rivière-du-Loup Maritime Bus:Edmundston-Fredericton-Moncton-North Sydney Marine Atlantic(ferry): North Sydney-Port-aux-Basques DRLPort-aux-Basques-St. John's Across-country trip by railcan take you Vancouver-Toronto-Montreal-Halifaxwith only a couple of changes of train. There is no passenger rail service on Vancouver Island or on the island ofNewfoundland.

This journey covers 6 time zones and more than 8,000 km, under conditions which vary from congested urban freeway (in Ottawa and Montreal) to thousands of kilometres of sparsely-populated wilderness (in northwestern Ontario) or steep mountain ranges (in the Rockies). The route passes through most of the populated areas of Canada, geographically the second-largest country on Earth. It is therefore not possible to give a comprehensive description of a trip of this scale in a single article (although printing a copy of theCanadaguide and everything under it would be a good start, a full description would fill a book).

Be sure to leave lots of time – a week just in driving time one-way is not unrealistic, assuming somebody is behind the wheel 24 hours a day with no stops to sightsee.Winter drivingcan take even longer; it is not unreasonable to expect to need a full week just to make the Winnipeg-Ottawa leg of the journey when there is snow on the ground. Bring a reliable vehicle - a full mechanical inspection before departure on a trip of this length is advisable. A cellular telephone can be useful as a means of obtaining roadside assistance, but expect huge mobile dead zones in sparsely-populated areas like Northern Ontario and theLake Superiorshore (asatellite phonemay be of more use in these areas); coverage is also very sporadic inBritish Columbia's Rocky Mountains (where a satellite phone might or might not be able to make a connection depending on whether the mountains are in the way).

While it is similar in concept to theInterstate Highway Systemin the United States, the Trans-Canada is considerably different in scale and consistency. In densely populated areas (at least by Canadian standards) and in between nearby major cities, the highway will often be divided with at least two lanes in each direction. But in lightly populated areas such asNorthern Ontarioor - in the case of theYellowhead- much ofManitobaandSaskatchewan,the highway has only one lane in each direction, undivided, and has gravel shoulders and variable pavement quality. Much of the highway is not grade-separated and passes directly through many communities, functioning as the main street of the town.

Get in

This trip can be started almost anywhere in Canada. The highway runs fromVictoria,British ColumbiatoSt. John's,Newfoundland(or the other way around, both cities declare a "mile 0" or "mile one" for the highway), with a third possible origin point atPrince Ruperton theYellowhead Highway.However, for practical purposes many travellers skip the trip toNewfoundland,and end it inNova Scotia,others may skip Victoria and end inVancouver.

Drive

The trip is listed from west to east (from Victoria), but obviously could be done in either direction. There are some locations where multiple routes are called the Trans-Canada Highway; the shortest or most direct route is listed as the "mainline" in these cases.

Victoria to Winnipeg

Detailed map

Alexandra Bridge over the Fraser River

A wildlife overpass over the highway inBanff

Highway 1(Trans-Canada Highway) begins in1Victoriaat the intersection of Douglas Street and Dallas Road (where the "Mile 0" plaque stands) and passes through downtown Victoria and northward along the east coast ofVancouver Islandto Nanaimo. Short freeway segments of the TCH can be found near Victoria and Nanaimo, but the rest of the highway on Vancouver Island is heavily signalized. Between Victoria and Nanaimo, the highway passes through2Duncan,the largest city between those cities' respective metropolitan areas. The highway passes through downtown3Nanaimoto Nanaimo (Departure Bay) ferry terminal and follows a two-hour ferry to Vancouver (Horseshoe Bay) ferry terminal in4West Vancouver.The route becomes a freeway and enters5Vancouver.

It is possible to bypass the busiest sections of Highway 1 in Metro Vancouver:

• From Victoria, take Highway 17 from Victoria to the Victoria (Swartz Bay) ferry terminal nearSidneyand take the route to Vancouver (Tsawwassen) ferry terminal inDelta(1 hour 35 minutes crossing), which also avoids circuitous Vancouver Island route.
• From Nanaimo, take Highway 19 to Nanaimo (Duke Point) ferry terminal and take the route to Vancouver (Tsawwassen) ferry terminal (2 hours crossing) from Nanaimo (via Highway 19) also offers a link to the bypass. Highway 17 links Vancouver (Tsawwassen) ferry terminal with the TCH in6Surrey.

The Trans-Canada Highway travels through the Fraser Valley, passing through the smaller cities of7Abbotsfordand8Chilliwack.For westbound traffic heading into Vancouver, be sure to refuel in these communities as petrol in Metro Vancouver costs more due to additional taxes.

The Trans-Canada Highway exits the freeway at9Hope(exit 170) and turns north through the Fraser Canyon, turns east at10Cache Creek,and enters11Kamloops,rejoining the freeway (westbound traffic exits the freeway at exit 362).

• An alternative between Hope and Kamloops is sticking to the freeway by following theCoquihalla Highway(Yellowhead Highway 5), which reduces the travel time by 1 hour.

From Kamloops, the route continues east through12Salmon Arm,13Sicamous,and14Revelstoke,after which it passes throughMount Revelstoke National Park.The highway then passes throughGlacier National Parkwhich features a marker commemorating the Trans-Canada's 1962 official opening and avalanche-prone Rogers Pass. At the eastern boundary of Glacier National Park, set your watch ahead. After passing through15Golden,the highway enters theCanadian Rockiesand goes throughYoho National Park.

At theAlbertaborder, the TCH becomes a divided highway and entersBanff National Park,Canada’s first national park, passing through16Lake Louiseand17Banff.The highway leaves the national park at18Canmoreand continues to19Calgary,where it passes through the north/central portion of the city.

• An alternate route is the northern portion Highway 201 (Stoney Trail), which serves as a freeway bypass for TCH through Calgary.

The Trans-Canada Highway continues east through endless prairies, passing through20Strathmoreand21Brooks,and22Medicine Hat.It then crosses intoSaskatchewan,passing between theGreat Sandhillsto the north and theCypress Hillsto the south. It then continues through23Swift Currentand24Moose Jawto25Regina,the province’s capital city. It continues east, crosses intoManitoba,and passes through26Brandonand27Portage la Prairiebefore continuing to28Winnipeg.

• An alternative is theYellowhead Highway,which follows Canadian National's "Grand Trunk Pacific Railway" fromPrince Rupert,British Columbia. Trans-Canada 16 leads throughTerraceandPrince GeorgeBC,Jasper National Park,Alberta's capitalEdmonton,Alberta/Saskatchewanborder city ofLloydminsterandSaskatoonbefore joining the Trans-Canada mainline just west of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.

The southern portion of Winnipeg's Perimeter Highway (Highway 100) is part of the Trans-Canada system and bypasses the city with a mix of traffic lights and interchanges, while Highway 1 continues through central Winnipeg. Highway 1 continues eastward toKenora,becoming Ontario Highway 17 at the provincial border. Saskatchewan does not use Daylight Saving Time, when heading east go ahead one hour on entering Saskatchewan from Alberta (in winter) or leaving Saskatchewan into Manitoba (in summer). Winnipeg is one hour ahead of Calgary and two hours ahead of Vancouver.

Fuel prices in British Columbia (and particularly in Vancouver) are higher than in the other three western provinces; heading east, they will begin to creep upwards again in Ontario and become worse still in Quebec.

Winnipeg to Ottawa

The Trans-Canada runs over prairie for a little way east of Winnipeg, then a long stretch of lightly inhabited forested country. It is Highway 1 in Manitoba, Highway 17 most of the way across Ontario, and 417 near Ottawa.

Winnipeg is2,170km (1,350mi)from Ottawa. Towns on the route are:

Detailed map

• 29KenoraandDryden,in the Central time zone. Move ahead one hour to Eastern time and enter
• 30Thunder Bay
• 31Wawa(legendary for stranded hitchhikers)
• 32Sault Ste Marie
• 33Sudbury(swing south here to reachToronto)
• 34North Bay
• 35Pembroke

From Thunder Bay to the Sault, the road winds along the shore of Lake Superior and is quite pretty. However, the section from Wawa to the Sault sits in a snow belt and is frequently closed in winter; seeSault Sainte Marie (Ontario)#Winter Driving.

A few Trans-Canada Highway branches are signed as part of the system, providing alternate routes in central Canada:

• An alternate, mostly further north, is Highway 11, which branches off atNipigon(east of Thunder Bay) and runs viaHearst,Kapuskasing,Cochrane,andTemiskaming Shoresto North Bay. Professional intercity drivers use this route in the winter to avoid lake-effect winds from Lake Superior and Lake Huron (and the above-mentioned possible road closures between Wawa and Sault Ste Marie).
• An alternate further south is Highway 69/400 fromSudbury.Instead of continuing intoToronto,take Highway 12 to bypass the city and reach Ontario Highway 7 (Peterborough,Perth). Re-join the mainline Trans-Canada (417) in the west end ofOttawa.
• An additional northern alternate exists in Québec (from Ontario 11, take Ontario 66 throughKirkland Laketo Québec 117, passing throughRouyn-NorandaandVal d'Or); rejoinla Transcanadiennein Montréal.

Ottawa to Moncton

While the road from Kenora to Sudbury is long and sparsely-populated, past36Arnpriorit enters theOttawa Valley;the highway becomes wider and traffic heavier as one approaches37Ottawa,the national capital. The highway number changes from 17 to 417 since Ontario uses 400-series numbers for large motorways.

Ottawa to Montréal is just over two hours by freeway, passing near small towns like38Embrunand39Hawkesburyon Ontario 417 (which becomes Québec autoroute 40). Be sure to refuel before leaving Ottawa as petrol in Quebec costs more (with a further increase on Montréal island) due to high taxes, and while the fuel stations on the Ontario side of the border charge lower prices than Montréal, they charge higher prices than Ottawa.

Approaching Montreal on autoroute 40, it is possible to bypass the city by taking Autoroute 30 southbound at40Vaudreuil-Dorionand rejoining the Trans-Canada (as Autoroute 20) on the south shore, "la Transcanadienne" goes directly through the city and is heavily congested during peak hours.

Detailed map

Downriver from41Montréal,autoroute 20 follows the south shore through42Drummondvilleto43Lévis.Traffic forQuébec Cityexits northbound at Ste. Foy, the last pair of bridges across the St. Lawrence River. (It's also possible to follow the north shore from Montréal to Québec viaTrois-Rivières- seeWindsor-Quebec corridor- but the distance is slightly longer and that route is not part of the Trans-Canada Highway.)

Continue to follow the south shore from Lévis down to44Rivière-du-Loup,a small town near enough to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence that one begins to spot salt water marine life, such as whales. The road forks at this point; Trans-Canada traffic turns south onto Route 185 (partially widened as autoroute 85) toward45Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!and46Edmundston,New Brunswickwhile continuing to follow the river eastward would lead to theGaspé Peninsula.

Set your watch ahead another hour upon entering New Brunswick. From Edmundston, the highway largely follows the New Brunswick-Maineborder to47Fredericton,the provincial capital and a long-established United Empire Loyalist town, then heads eastward through48Monctonand onward toNova Scotia.(The highway skirts the edge of Canadian Forces BaseGagetownjust east of Fredericton; do not leave the highway in this area unless you want to be a live-fire practice target. This area is clearly marked by very large signs at each end of the military base.)

The mainline Trans-Canada Highway crosses from49Sackville,New Brunswick directly into50Amherst,Nova Scotia. An alternate route exits ontoHighway 16at Sackville to cross the Confederation Bridge toPrince Edward Island,then crosses back to Nova Scotia from PEI on a seasonal ferry.

Prince Edward Island

The Trans-Canada Highway crosses the Northumberland Strait by the way of the 12.9-km Confederation Bridge (in the west) and the Wood Islands ferry crossing (in the east), numberedHighway 1on Prince Edward Island throughout the route between these two crossings. If you land on the island using the bridge from New Brunswick, the Trans-Canada Highway starts in51Borden-Carletonand meanders across the southern part of Queens County towards52Charlottetownabout the halfway point, then crosses into Kings County, ending at the ferry terminal in Wood Islands. In Nova Scotia, highwayNS 106,part of Trans-Canada Highway,connects the ferry to highwayNS 104inNew Glasgow,which is the mainline of the Trans-Canada Highway.

The time to drive from Borden-Carleton to Wood Islands, if you don't stop to explore along the way, is approximately 95 minutes. If you've incurred the cost of crossing from the mainland to PEI (and back), it makes sense to stop and look around; PEI has some of the most beautiful countryside anywhere. Also, the series of books starting withAnne of Green Gablestook place in PEI andsitesassociated with them attract many visitors.

Moncton to North Sydney, Nova Scotia

Terminus of Nova Scotia Highway 106 — part of the Trans-Canada Highway — at Caribou

Be sure to leave New Brunswick on a full tank; fuel prices inAmherst (Nova Scotia)are (as of 2014) six cents a litre higher - due in part toNova Scotia's 15% value added tax on all purchases. Follow highwayNS 104through53Springhill, 54Truro,55Stellarton-New Glasgowand56Antigonishto57Port Hawkesbury.(It is possible for all except large trucks to bypass the one road toll at the Cobequid Pass, between Springhill and Truro, by going to the old road NS 4 for the affected section.) AsHalifaxis not on the Trans-Canada Highway, traffic for that city exits onto highway NS 102 southbound at Truro.

Cape Bretonis an island, joined to the rest of Nova Scotia by one narrow causeway at Port Hawkesbury. Much of the island is parkland. Two parallel roads run from the causeway to the former coal mining town ofSydney (Nova Scotia);the Trans-Canada Highway follows highwayNS 105on a western path through58Baddeck(home of an Alexander Graham Bell museum) while NS 4/104 takes a more eastern path. Those heading toLouisbourg(where a former French fortress village has been largely restored) will turn south just before the highway's terminus inSydney.

HighwayNS 105ends at theNewfoundlandferry in59North Sydney.Reservations for the 8 hour Marine Atlantic crossing to60Port Aux Basquesare advisable.

Set your watch forward another half hour upon entering Newfoundland.

Port aux Basques to St. John's

In Newfoundland, theHighway 1(Trans-Canada Highway) follows a wide 900-km (550-mile) arc to the north from Port aux Basques through61Corner Brook,62Deer Lake,63Grand Falls-Windsor,64Ganderand then southeast to theAvalon Peninsulaand65St. John's.The highway is two lanes and most of these points (with the exception of St. John's and possibly Corner Brook) are small towns or villages. This route largely avoids the sparsely-populated, rugged and inaccessible south coast of Newfoundland, instead following the path of the former "Newfie Bullet" narrow-gauge railway. (The former rail line is now trailways.) There are a few possible side trips: north to theGreat Northern Peninsula(where a group of Vikings settled in northwestern Newfoundland briefly but didn't stay permanently) viaGros Morne National Park,south toSaint Pierre and Miquelon,France from theBurin Peninsula,or east along the historicBonavista Peninsula.

In St. John's, the Trans-Canada Highway ends inauspiciously on an Outer Ring Road which runs north of the city, past the airport. A more suitable ending point for a trans-Canada journey would be Signal Hill, a National Historic Site associated with the early Marconi experimentation in trans-Atlantic radio, or Cape Spear (just south of the city) as the easternmost point in Canada.

Stay safe

The weather in parts of Canada can beextreme in winter.In much of northwestern Ontario, distances are long, settlements few and far between andcellular telephone coverageincomplete or sporadic. Be sure that your vehicle is in top condition and that you are carrying adequate supplies before setting out. In the west, this route crosses the Rocky Mountains and can be dangerous during winter storms - sometimes the road may even be closed due to snow avalanche risk.

In Newfoundland, amoose on the highwayis a Canadian stop sign and is not to be ignored lightly. These animals are numerous, much heavier than deer or other wildlife and have a much higher centre of gravity. A moose through the windscreen in a vehicular collision can be deadly for both the vehicle's driver and the moose.

Unless you have two (or more) drivers, be prepared to spend at least a week on the highway - not including tour and sightseeing stops. The distances involved are not to be underestimated.

Beware of construction zones. There's an old joke that Canada's roads have two seasons - winter and construction - so be prepared for construction slowdowns with little notice anywhere along the route. Not only will construction slow you down, but you may have to contend with rather long stretches of very narrow temporary lanes (one in each direction), flanked by barrels, and some portions may be on rough temporary surface or shoulder.