No, You Aren’t Crazy; Traffic Really Has Gotten Worse
“As commutes grow longer and congestion worsens, poor planning and overwhelmed infrastructure are eroding Canada’s quality of life. It’s time for bold solutions to avoid being stuck—both in traffic and as a nation.”
It seems like every year I see some poll or report praising Toronto or Canada for our ‘high quality of life’ in some form or fashion. Then I look out my window and am brought back to reality: we’re regressing. It’s true with the cost of living (though inflation is slowing), it’s true with housing, it’s true with various forms of crime and it’s true with the nightmare that is commuting. And it’s getting worse.
According to an August 2024 StatsCan report appropriately titled More Canadians commuting in 2024, the share of Canadian commuters with a journey exceeding 60 minutes (classified as a long commute) has risen for the third year in a row, now standing at 9.2% as of May 2024, up from 8.7% last year. In Durham Region (east of Toronto) around Oshawa in particular, a staggering 20% of commuters like me endure long commutes, making our corridor the worst of anywhere in the country. We traded cheaper homes for longer trips - it used to be worth it.
Now, our highways and transit systems are overburdened, turning daily commutes into grueling marathons. Drivers find themselves caught up in traffic, leading to increased frustration and road rage. It’s no party for public transit users either. Overcrowded (and increasingly unsafe) buses and trains contribute to stress and discomfort. And don’t get me started on the wave of poorly trained drivers and poor location finding through the apps of the big rideshare companies.
It’s a daily grind that doesn't just affect people—it permeates workplaces as employees arrive more tired and less productive, impacting overall morale and efficiency. Employers face the consequences of delayed meetings, decreased focus, and higher absenteeism. The cumulative effect is a less competitive economy, with more challenges for businesses - not less.
Worse, as commute times balloon, we risk losing people where we need them most as talent (and youth) migrate away from our cities to regions with shorter commutes and a better quality of life, leading to a brain drain that hampers innovation and economic growth in affected areas. This shift not only depletes the talent pool, it disrupts communities and key industries alike, like hospitality.
And then there’s the downside for business owners and investors. Among other key metrics like the quality of the workforce, we consider infrastructure and quality of life when choosing where to invest. As you might imagine, persistent congestion and long commutes don’t make for favourable conditions, likely leading to missed opportunities for job creation and economic development - the last thing we need considering our sputtering productivity.
To resolve these challenges, here are the steps we must take:
Enact More Balanced Immigration Policies
Immigration is essential for Canada's success, yet we’ve mishandled the process so badly that even proponents of open borders now call our immigration targets and the composition thereof into question. I know because I speak to many of them. In the Trudeau Government’s defence, Immigration Minister Marc Miller has begun making welcome changes, with more possibly on the way. In late July, Quebec’s then Immigration Minister Christine Fréchette wrote to Miller suggesting that the federal government adopt a quota system to establish the number of asylum seekers each province could receive based on capacity, while restricting asylum seekers’ work permits to specific provinces or withholding accommodation costs in lieu - a suggestion Miller would be wise to take.
Without question, immigration brings immense value to Canada, but the rapid influx of people to major urban centres, without corresponding infrastructure investment, exacerbates congestion and strains our transportation systems. Coordinating immigration with better regional development policies would alleviate pressures on our roads and transit systems by encouraging newcomers to settle in less congested areas, contributing to regional economies. Simply put, fewer people concentrated in already overburdened cities means less strain on infrastructure and, ultimately, less traffic.
Invest heavily in Purpose-Built Infrastructure
I’m not sold on a tunnel under the 401. Still, the Ford Government has it right on transportation infrastructure; expanding and modernizing it must be prioritized. This includes widening more sections of our highways (and exploring innovative ways to keep drivers moving), as well as investing in improving rail systems, bus rapid transit and lake-based transportation. I see no reason why our roads should be clogged with freight trucks when we could be transporting many goods autonomously by drone, or through the use of more ports.
Importantly, investing in infrastructure isn’t just about building more—it’s about building smarter. High-density urban areas need transit systems that can handle population growth without crippling our roads. We must also ensure that new technologies, like autonomous vehicles, are part of our long-term planning, helping us future-proof our cities.
Promote Regional Development
Alleviating the strain on major urban centers starts with better regional development policies. We can’t expect Toronto to continue bearing the brunt of population growth alone. Instead, we should create incentives for businesses and industries to expand beyond Toronto’s core. By strategically investing in less congested areas like Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Peterborough, or north Durham Region, we could decentralize growth while still maintaining strong economic links to our core cities.
This model has worked elsewhere. In the U.S., cities like Austin, Texas, and Raleigh, North Carolina, have seen significant growth thanks to tech industry investments that relieved pressure on Silicon Valley. We can replicate this in Canada by offering tax incentives, government grants, and infrastructure investment to encourage companies and workers to relocate to areas with shorter commutes, affordable housing, and better quality of life.
Destination: Shorter, Less Congested Commutes
Our increase in commute times is less an inevitable consequence of growth and more a consequence of poor planning and coordination by our levels of government. But it’s a challenge we can overcome with innovative thinking and decisive action. Solutions won’t be easy to implement, but the alternative—our major cities crippled by inefficiency—is far worse. Without swift intervention, we risk entrenching a way of life that erodes both our individual well-being and our collective prosperity.
Each added minute to the commute times of Canadians should be treated as a warning sign—if we ignore it, we will find ourselves not just stuck in traffic, but stuck as a nation. The time to act is now, and the longer we wait, the harder it will be to reverse course. Our future prosperity depends on the steps we take today to ensure that our cities remain livable, our infrastructure resilient, and our commutes manageable.
