Vehicle Registrations

Summary of changes

Activity on this program started: 2015

Reference period of change - 2021

The vehicle registration file was re-designed in 2021, going back to 2017. The series includes content on vehicle registration counts on light-duty road motor vehicles by vehicle type and by fuel type, medium-duty vehicles by vehicle type and by fuel type, heavy-duty vehicles, buses, and motorcycles and mopeds. This change realigned weight classes as well as focused on fuel type to track emerging interest in electric vehicle fuel sources.

Reference period of change - 2010

In 2010, there is a break in the series due to a change in methods used for classifying vehicles. Prior to 2010, vehicles were assigned to vehicle type categories based solely on the information available from the provincial and territorial vehicle registration files. However, the information in these files was limited and not always consistent between jurisdictions, with the result that the vehicle type could not always be assigned accurately.

Beginning in 2010, the primary method for assigning vehicle type is to systematically decode the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), obtaining information about the vehicle that allows the vehicle type to be assigned accurately in the vast majority of cases. In cases where the VIN decoder does not provide sufficient information, the registration files are used.

At the national level, the main impact of this change in method is a net increase in the number of heavy trucks (those weighing 15 tonnes and more) and a net decrease in the number of medium trucks (those weighing from 4.5 tonnes to less than 15 tonnes). The impacts vary considerably by province and territory.

Reference period of change - 1999

In 1999, Statistics Canada implemented a revised methodology for Motor Vehicle Registration Data in Canada. In previous years, data were obtained by a questionnaire sent to the provinces and territories. Starting in 1999, the sources are files obtained from the vehicles licensing bureau of the provinces and territories.