Canadian Survey on Everyday Travel

Detailed information for 2025

Status:

Active

Frequency:

One Time

Record number:

5445

Statistics Canada is conducting the Canadian Survey on Everyday Travel (CSET), in collaboration with Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC), to gather insights on the daily travel habits of Canadians. A better understanding of travel habits and needs, as well as the barriers encountered, will help to inform transportation planning and infrastructure investments in communities across the country.

Data release - To be determined

Description

This survey aims to gather important insights that will guide transportation planning, policy development, and infrastructure investments across the country.

The results will play a key role in supporting the Government of Canada's efforts to improve public transit services, reduce dependency on private vehicles, encourage active transportation, and contribute to the country's sustainability and climate resilience goals.

Results will be used to:
• provide a more accurate picture of everyday travel, including caregiving and leisure trips
• inform decisions about services and infrastructure investments
• help communities address traffic, transportation barriers and accessibility
• support research and transportation planning

The CSET is being conducted by Statistics Canada in collaboration with Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC). The data will be used by HICC and can be used by federal policy makers, provincial, territorial and municipal governments, as well as non-governmental organizations, transportation stakeholders, analysts, consultants, academics, and the media.

Reference period: March 2026 - March 2027

Collection period: March 2026 - March 2027

Subjects

Commuting to work
Health
Labour
Lifestyle and social conditions
Society and community
Transportation
Transportation by road

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population for the Canadian Survey of Everyday Travel includes all non-institutionalized persons and non-residents of First Nations reserves 15 years of age or older, living in the 10 provinces of Canada.

Instrument design

Statistics Canada's Questionnaire Design Resource Centre (QDRC) provided input and feedback on the survey questionnaire based on testing with recruited participants. Question wording adheres as closely as possible to questions established by the Harmonized Content Committee at Statistics Canada.

The questionnaire follows standard practices and wording used in a computer-assisted interviewing environment, such as the automatic control of flows that depend upon answers to earlier questions and the use of edits to check for logical inconsistencies and capture errors. The computer applications for data collection were tested extensively.

Sampling

The frame is created from the Statistical Building Register and is stratified, within each province, by CMAs and the rest of the province. 26 CMAs were specifically targeted and defined as separate strata.

The Canadian Survey on Everyday Travel has a stratified two-stage design. At the first stage, dwellings are sampled; at the second stage, one person per sampled dwelling is selected to answer the questionnaire. Sufficient sample was allocated to each of the 26 targeted CMAs as well as within each province so that the survey could produce estimates for the targeted CMAs as well as provincial level estimates. A total sample of 120,000 dwellings was selected: 30,000 dwellings for each of the 4 collection periods. The sample of 120,000 dwellings includes an oversample of 5,000 dwellings in the Halifax Regional Municipality and surrounding areas.

At the first stage, the sampling unit is the dwelling. At the second stage, one person within the dwelling is selected.

Stratification is done by CMAs and the rest of the province, for each of the 10 provinces.

For each of the four collection periods, a stratified sample of 30,000 dwellings is selected randomly. Within a dwelling, information is collected from one randomly selected household member aged 15 years or older.

Data sources

Data collection for this reference period: 2026-03-16 to 2027-06-21

Responding to this survey is voluntary.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents and derived from other Statistics Canada surveys.

Data are collected through electronic questionnaire and telephone follow-up and are captured by electronic questionnaire. Initial contact is made through a mailed invitation letter and followed up by reminder letters, emails, SMS and by telephone follow-up.

There is no proxy reporting for the CSET.

The survey is offered in both English and French to potential respondents.

The average time required to complete the survey is 40 minutes.

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .