National Highway System (Canada)
The National Highway System in Canada is a federal designation for a strategic transport network of highways and freeways. The system includes but is not limited to the Trans-Canada Highway, and currently consists of of roadway designated under one of three classes: Core Routes, Feeder Routes, and Northern and Remote Routes.
The Government of Canada maintains very little power or authority over the maintenance or expansion of the system beyond sharing part of the cost of economically significant projects within the network. Highways within the system are not given any special signage, except where they are part of a Trans-Canada Highway route.
History
The system was first designated in 1988 by the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety, a council consisting of the federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Transport. A total of of highway were originally designated as part of the system. Highways selected for the system were existing primary routes that supported interprovincial and international trade and travel, by connecting major population or commercial centres with each other, with major border crossings on the Canada–United States border, or with other transport hubs.The system was further expanded in 2004, with the addition of approximately of highway that was not part of the original 1988 network. It was in this era that the current "core", "feeder" and "northern or remote" classes of route were established. Not all highways within the system are designated in their entirety, but may instead be part of the system over only part of their length; a few highways even have two or more discontinuous segments designated as part of the system. In some locations, the National Highway System may also incorporate city arterial streets to connect highway routes which are part of the system but do not directly interconnect, or to link the system to an important intermodal transport hub—such as a shipping port, a railway terminal, an airport or a ferry terminal—which is not directly located on a provincial-class highway.
Routes within the system continue to be maintained, funded and signed as provincial, rather than federal, highways. However, the federal government provides some funding assistance for important maintenance and expansion projects on designated highways through cost sharing programs. For instance, several recent maintenance projects on National Highway System routes in Saskatchewan were partly funded under the federal government's Building Canada Fund–Major Infrastructure Component, while several four-laning projects in Ontario in the 2000s accessed federal funding under the Strategic Highway Infrastructure Program.
There is no single, ongoing program for federal contributions to the National Highway System; rather, these contributions have been made through a variety of separate infrastructure investment programs of defined length and scope. Recent transportation planning proposals have identified public-private partnerships and dedicated fuel taxes as possible mechanisms for providing more stable funding, although no comprehensive program has been implemented to date.
The National Highway System has been criticized for lacking a truly comprehensive expansion plan. In many parts of the country, the system relies on two-lane highways, or expressways which are not fully up to international freeway standards; according to Lakehead University economics professor Livio di Matteo, many parts of the system, even on the main Trans-Canada Highway portion of the network, still leave "the nation’s east-west flow of personal and commercial traffic subject to the whims of an errant moose". Some motorists, further, prefer to drive between Western Canada and Eastern Canada by travelling through the United States rather than on Canadian highways; even though this represents a slightly longer trip than the Trans-Canada Highway route, it frequently takes a shorter amount of time due to the US Interstate system's higher speed limits, increased lane capacity and reduced likelihood of being delayed by a road accident.
American transportation planning academic Wendell Cox has also identified improvements to the system, so that Canada would have a comprehensive national freeway network comparable to the American Interstate Highway System, as an economically critical project for the country to undertake in the 21st century.
Routes
In its current form, the National Highway System includes routes in all Canadian provinces and territories except Nunavut, which has no conventional road connections to any other Canadian province or territory.Officially the system maintains three classifications of road: Core, Feeder and Northern/Remote. Within the core and feeder classes, the system's official register made additional distinctions between conventional core or feeder routes and intermodal links or "anomalies", where a highway that does not meet the normal criteria for inclusion, or a municipal arterial road, has been adopted into the system to fill in a gap in the network. The "intermodal" and "anomaly" classes are not distinct designations, however, but simply represent an additional clarification of why the road holds "core" or "feeder" status. Since 2016, the "anomaly" category has been dropped and the portion is road is simply included in the specific list. The tables below do not include "intermodal" municipal streets which connect major highways to intermodal facilities.
Alberta
The system includes of highway in Alberta.Route | Class | Length | Length | Southern or western terminus | Northern or eastern terminus | Name | Notes |
Core | Trans-Canada Highway | Entire route. | - | ||||
Core | Hwy 3 in Fort Macleod | Hwy 216 in Edmonton | Part of CANAMEX Corridor. | - | |||
Core | Hwy 49 near Donnelly | Hwy 35 near Grimshaw | Part of corridor connecting Hwy 43 with the Mackenzie Hwy. | - | |||
Core | British Columbia border | Hwy 1 in Medicine Hat | Crowsnest Highway | Entire route. | - | ||
Core | Hwy 3 in Lethbridge | Part of CANAMEX Corridor | - | ||||
Core | Hwy 1 near Calgary | Entire route | - | ||||
Core | Hwy 16 in Edmonton | Hwy 28A in Edmonton | Part of Edmonton-Fort McMurray corridor. | - | |||
Core | Entire route. | - | |||||
Core | Hwy 28A in Gibbons | Hwy 63 near Radway | Part of Edmonton-Fort McMurray corridor. | - | |||
Feeder | Hwy 63 near Radway | Cold Lake | - | ||||
Core | Hwy 15 in Edmonton | Hwy 28A in Gibbons | Part of Edmonton-Fort McMurray corridor. | - | |||
Core | Hwy 2 near Grimshaw | Mackenzie Highway | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Hwy 16 near Stony Plain | Entire route; part of CANAMEX Corridor. | - | ||||
Core | Hwy 2 near Donnelly | Hwy 43 in Valleyview | Part of corridor connecting Hwy 43 with the Mackenzie Hwy. | - | |||
Northern / Remote | Rainbow Lake | Hwy 88 near Fort Vermilion | - | ||||
Core | Hwy 28 near Redwater | Fort McMurray | Part of Edmonton-Fort McMurray corridor. | - | |||
Core | in Calgary | Hwy 1 east in Calgary | Stoney Trail | Northern portion of Calgary ring road. | - | ||
— | 22 | 14 | in Calgary | in Calgary | Stoney Trail | Officially not listed part of N.H.S.; eastern portion of Calgary ring road. | |
Core | in Edmonton | Yellowhead Trail in Edmonton | Anthony Henday Drive | Southern portion of Edmonton ring road. | - | ||
— | 30 | 18 | in Edmonton | Yellowhead Trail in Edmonton | Anthony Henday Drive | Officially not listed part of N.H.S.; northern portion of Edmonton ring road. |
British Columbia
The system includes of highway in British Columbia.Route | Class | Length | Length | Southern or western terminus | Northern or eastern terminus | Name | Notes |
Core | Victoria | Trans-Canada Highway | Entire route; includes ferry between Naniamo and West Vancouver. | - | |||
Core | Hwy 97 in Dawson Creek | Part of CANAMEX Corridor. | - | ||||
Core | Hwy 1 in Hope | Crowsnest Highway | Entire route. | - | |||
Feeder | Hwy 19 near Qualicum Beach | Port Alberni | - | ||||
Core | Hwy 1 in Hope | Hwy 16 at Tete Jaune Cache | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Hwy 1 in Abbotsford | - | |||||
Core | 8th Avenue in Surrey | Part of corridor connecting the Pacific Highway Border Crossing and Hwy 99. | - | ||||
Core | Prince Rupert | Entire mainland section. | - | ||||
Core | Victoria | Hwy 99 in Delta | Includes ferry between North Saanich and Delta. | - | |||
— | 31 | 19 | Hwy 99 in Delta | Hwy 1 / Hwy 15 in Surrey | South Fraser Perimeter Road | Officially not listed part of N.H.S.; Hwy 17 extension. | |
Core | Duke Point ferry terminal near Nanaimo | Hwy 4A near Parksville | Island Highway | - | |||
Feeder | Hwy 4A near Parksville | Hwy 28 in Campbell River | Island Highway | - | |||
Feeder | Hwy 16 near Terrace | Kitimat | - | ||||
Northern / Remote | Hwy 16 at Kitwanga | Stewart–Cassiar Highway | - | ||||
Feeder | Hwy 3 at Yahk | - | |||||
Feeder | Hwy 97C at West Kelowna | Okanagan Highway | - | ||||
Core | Hwy 97C in West Kelowna | Hwy 97A near Vernon | Okanagan Highway | - | |||
Core | Hwy 1 in Cache Creek | - | |||||
Core | Hwy 97 near Vernon | Hwy 1 in Sicamous | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Hwy 97A near Grindrod | Hwy 1 in Salmon Arm | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Hwy 97 in Peachland | Hwy 5 in Merritt | Okanagan Connector | - | |||
Core | Whistler | Sea to Sky Highway | - | ||||
Feeder | Langdale ferry terminial | Powell River | Sunshine Coast Highway | - | |||
8th Avenue | Core | Hwy 99 in Surrey | Hwy 15 in Surrey | Part of corridor connecting the Pacific Highway Border Crossing and Hwy 99. | - |
Manitoba
The system includes of highway in Manitoba.New Brunswick
The system includes of highway in New Brunswick.Route | Class | Length | Length | Southern or western terminus | Northern or eastern terminus | Name | Notes |
Core | Canada-U.S. border | Route 2 near Petitcodiac | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Trans-Canada Highway | Entire route. | - | ||||
Core | Route 1 in Saint John | Route 2 near Fredericton | Vanier Highway | - | |||
Feeder | Route 2 near Fredericton | Route 11 in Bathurst | Entire route. | - | |||
Feeder | Route 15 in Shediac | Route 17 near Campbellton | - | ||||
Core | Moncton | Route 16 in Port Elgin | - | ||||
Core | Route 2 at Aulac | P.E.I. border | Trans-Canada Highway | Includes NB portion of the Confederation Bridge. | - | ||
Feeder | Route 2 at Saint-Léonard | Route 11 near Campbellton | - | ||||
Core | Canada-U.S. border | Route 2 in Woodstock | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Route 1 at Rothesay | Saint John Airport | Intermodule connection. | - |
Newfoundland and Labrador
The system includes of highway in Newfoundland and Labrador.Route | Class | Length | Length | Southern or western terminus | Northern or eastern terminus | Name | Notes |
Core | Channel-Port aux Basques ferry terminal | Route 30 in St. John's | Trans-Canada Highway | Entire route. | - | ||
Core | Route 1 in St. John's | Port of St. John's | Pitts Memorial Drive | - | |||
Core | Route 1 in St. John's | St. John's International Airport | Portugal Cove Road | - | |||
Core | Argentia ferry terminal | Route 1 at Whitbourne | Ferry connection to Nova Scotia operates seasonally during the summer. | - | |||
Core | Route 1 near Lewisporte | Lewisporte | Road to the Isles | - | |||
Core | Route 1 near Bishop's Falls | Botwood | - | ||||
Core | Route 1 in Corner Brook | Riverside Drive | Intermodule link to the Port of Corner Brook. | - | |||
Feeder | Route 1 in Deer Lake | St. Barbe ferry terminal | Ferry connection to Blanc-Sablon, Quebec | - | |||
Northern / Remote | Route 510 at Happy Valley-Goose Bay | - | |||||
Northern / Remote | Route 500 at Happy Valley-Goose Bay | Trans-Labrador Highway | Entire route; excludes section of Quebec Route 138; ferry connection to St. Barbe. | - |
Northwest Territories
The system includes of highway in the Northwest Territories.Route | Class | Length | Length | Southern or western terminus | Northern or eastern terminus | Name | Notes |
Core | Highway 3 near Fort Providence | Mackenzie Highway | - | ||||
Northern / Remote | Highway 3 near Fort Providence | Wrigley | Mackenzie Highway | - | |||
Core | Highway 1 at Enterprise | Hay River | Hay River Highway | Entire route. | - | ||
Core | Highway 3 near Fort Providence | Highway 4 at Yellowknife | Yellowknife Highway | Entire route. | - | ||
Northern / Remote | Highway 3 at Yellowknife | Tibbitt Lake | Ingraham Trail | Entire route. | - | ||
Northern / Remote | Inuvik | Dempster Highway | Entire route. | - |
Nova Scotia
The system includes of highway in Nova Scotia.Route | Class | Length | Length | Southern or western terminus | Northern or eastern terminus | Name | Notes |
Core | Hwy 102 / Trunk 1 in Bedford | Trunk 3 in Yarmouth | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Halifax | Hwy 104 in Truro | Entire route. | - | |||
Feeder | Hwy 102 in Halifax | Yarmouth | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | New Brunswick border | Hwy 105 / Trunk 19 at Port Hastings | Trans-Canada Highway | Entire route. | - | ||
Core | Hwy 105 / Trunk 19 at Port Hastings | Trunk 4 at River Tillard | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Hwy 125 near Sydney Mines | North Sydney ferry terminal | - | ||||
— | 139 | 86 | Hwy 104 / Trunk 19 at Port Hastings | Hwy 125 near Sydney Mines | Officially not listed part of N.H.S.; part of the Trans-Canada Highway. | ||
Core | Route 15 in Shediac | Caribou ferry terminal | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Victoria Road in Dartmouth | Hwy 111 in Dartmouth | Circumferential Highway | - | |||
Feeder | Hwy 111 in Dartmouth | Pleasant Street in Dartmouth | Circumferential Highway | - | |||
Core | Hwy 111 in Dartmouth | Hwy 102 near Fall River | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Hwy 105 in Sydney Mines | Trunk 4 in Sydney River | Peacekeepers Way | - | |||
Core | Hwy 104 at River Tillard | Hwy 125 in Sydney River | - | ||||
Core | Hwy 101 at Conway | Digby Ferry | - |
Ontario
The system includes of highway in Ontario.Route | Class | Length | Length | Southern or western terminus | Northern or eastern terminus | Name | Notes |
Core | Highway 401 in Toronto | Highway 69 near Carling | Trans-Canada Highway | Entire route. | - | ||
Core | Highway 3 in Windsor | Macdonald–Cartier Freeway | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Canada-U.S. border | Highway 401 in London | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Highway 401 near Woodstock | Highway 401 / Highway 410 in Mississauga | Entire route; includes concurrency with QEW. | - | |||
Core | QEW in St. Catharines | General Brock Parkway | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Pearson Airport | Highway 401 in Toronto | Belfield Expressway | Entire route. | - | ||
Core | Highway 401 / Highway 403 in Mississauga | Highway 10 north of Brampton | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Highway 401 in near Johnstown | Highway 417 in Ottawa | Veterans Memorial Highway | Entire route. | - | ||
Core | Highway 17 near Arnprior | Trans-Canada Highway | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | QEW in Niagara Falls | Canada-U.S. border | Entire route; combined with Niagara Regional Road 420. | - | |||
Core | QEW / Gardiner Expy in Toronto | in Vaughan | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Canada-U.S. border | Highway 427 / Gardiner Expy. in Toronto | Unsigned Highway 451 | Entire route | - | ||
Core | Canada-U.S. border | Highway 401 in Windsor | Huron Church Road | - | |||
Feeder | Highway 401 in Windsor | Highway 77 in Leamington | - | ||||
Core | Canada-U.S. border | Highway 401 in Windsor | Dougall Avenue | - | |||
Core | Highway 403 in Hamilton | in Guelph | - | ||||
Core | John C. Munro Airport | Highway 403 in Hamilton | Intermodule connection. | - | |||
Core | Highway 12 in Brock | Highway 417 in Ottawa | Trans-Canada Highway | - | |||
Core | Highway 8 in Kitchener | Highway 6 in Guelph | Excludes concurrency with Highway 8 between Kitchener and Stratford. | - | |||
Core | Highway 7 in Stratford | Highway 401 in Cambridge | Includes concurrency with Highway 7 between Kitchener and Stratford. | - | |||
Feeder | Highway 410 north of Brampton | Highway 26 in Owen Sound | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Highway 400 in Barrie | Highway 17 in Nipigon | Trans-Canada Highway | Includes concurrency with Highway 17 in North Bay; excludes concurrency with Highway 17 between Nipigon and Shabaqua Corners. | - | ||
— | 280 | 174 | Highway 17 at Shabaqua Corners | Highway 71 in Fort Frances | Trans-Canada Highway | Not part of N.H.S., part of the Trans-Canada Highway; excludes concurrency with Highway 71. | |
Core | Highway 7 in Brock | Highway 400 at Severn | Trans-Canada Highway | Excludes concurrency with Highway 400. | - | ||
Feeder | Highway 400 at Waubaushene | Highway 93 in Midland | Excludes concurrency with Highway 400. | - | |||
Core | Highway 401 near Johnstown | Entire route. | - | ||||
Core | Highway 417 near Arnprior | Trans-Canada Highway | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Canada-U.S. border | Highway 17 in Sault Ste. Marie | Possible subject to revision, truck route via Carman's Way and Highway 550. | - | |||
Feeder | Highway 3 in Tillsonburg | Highway 401 near Ingersoll | Entire route | - | |||
Feeder | Highway 3 in Simcoe | Highway 403 in Brantford | - | ||||
Core | County Road 19 near Collingwood | Highway 400 in Barrie | - | ||||
Core | Highway 417 near Hawkesbury | Entire route. | - | ||||
Core | Highway 11 / Highway 17 in Thunder Bay | Entire route. | - | ||||
Core | Highway 11 near Swastika | Trans-Canada Highway | - | ||||
Core | Highway 400 in Carling | Highway 17 in Sudbury | Trans-Canada Highway | Entire route | - | ||
Core | Canada-U.S. border | Highway 17 near Kenora | Trans-Canada Highway | Includes concurrency with Highway 11. | - | ||
Feeder | Highway 3 in Leamington | Highway 401 in Lakeshore | Entire route | - | |||
Feeder | Highway 144 in Timmins | Highway 11 in Matheson | - | ||||
Core | Highway 17 near Serpent River | Elliot Lake | - | ||||
Core | Highway 401 near Newcastle | Highway 7 in Peterborough | Entire route; includes concurrency with Highway 7. | - | |||
Core | Highway 401 near Lansdowne | Entire route. | - | ||||
Feeder | Cornwall | Highway 417 near Casselman | Entire route; connects to Seaway International Bridge and U.S. border. | - | |||
Feeder | Highway 17 in Sudbury | Highway 101 in Timmins | Entire route. | - | |||
Feeder | Highway 34 in Hawkesbury | Highway 417 in East Hawkesbury | Former Highway 17. | - | |||
Nicholas Street Rideau Street King Edward Avenue | Core | Highway 417 in Ottawa | Ottawa city streets connecting Highway 417 and Autoroute 5 in Gatineau, QC. | - |
Prince Edward Island
The system includes of highway in Prince Edward Island.Route | Class | Length | Length | Southern or western terminus | Northern or eastern terminus | Name | Notes |
Core | Wood Islands Ferry Terminal | Entire route; includes PEI portion of the Confederation Bridge. | - | ||||
Core | Route 1 near Albany | Route 2 near Summerside | Entire route. | - | |||
Core | Summerside | Route 1 in Charlottetown | - | ||||
Feeder | Route 14 / Route 153 in Tignish | Summerside | - | ||||
Feeder | Route 1 in Charlottetown | Souris | - | ||||
Feeder | Route 1 at Cherry Valley | Georgetown | Entire route | - |
Quebec
The system includes of highway in Quebec.Saskatchewan
The system includes of highway in Saskatchewan.Route | Class | Length | Length | Southern or western terminus | Northern or eastern terminus | Name | Notes |
Core | Trans-Canada Highway | Entire route. | - | ||||
Core | Hwy 1 in Moose Jaw | Hwy 11 at Chamberlain | Veterans Memorial Highway | - | |||
Core | Hwy 11 near Prince Albert | Hwy 3 / Hwy 303 in Prince Albert | Veterans Memorial Highway | - | |||
Northern / Remote | Hwy 3 / Hwy 303 in Prince Albert | Hwy 102 in La Ronge | CanAm Highway | - | |||
Core | Hwy 39 at Corinne | Hwy 1 in Regina | CanAm Highway | Regina – Weyburn – Estevan corridor. | - | ||
Core | Hwy 11 / Hwy 16 in Saskatoon | Entire route | - | ||||
Core | Hwy 1 near Balgonie | Hwy 16 in Yorkton | - | ||||
Core | Hwy 1 in Regina | Hwy 11 south Prince Albert | Louis Riel Trail | Entire route | - | ||
Core | Entire route. | - | |||||
Core | Hwy 6 at Corinne | CanAm Highway | Regina – Weyburn – Estevan corridor. | - |
Yukon
The system includes of highway in Yukon.Route | Class | Length | Length | Southern or western terminus | Northern or eastern terminus | Name | Notes |
Core | Alaska Highway | Entire route. | - | ||||
Feeder | Hwy 1 south of Whitehorse | Klondike Highway | - | ||||
Northern / Remote | Hwy 1 north of Whitehorse | Hwy 5 south of Dawson City | Klondike Highway | - | |||
Northern / Remote | Hwy 2 south of Dawson City | Dempster Highway | Entire route. | - | |||
Northern / Remote | Hwy 1 near Upper Liard | Stewart–Cassiar Highway | Entire route. | - |