If you’ve ever been stuck on Décarie at rush hour, you might think Montreal has the worst traffic in Canada. But new data says otherwise — four other Canadian cities are even bigger gridlock nightmares.
TomTom’s 2024 Traffic Index ranked 13 Canadian cities based on real-world GPS data from 737 billion kilometres driven last year. And while Montreal didn’t escape the top five, we dodged the worst of it.
Canada’s worst cities for traffic
Vancouver took the top spot, with an average travel time of 27 minutes and 3 seconds per 10 km — meaning commuters lose 86 hours a year just sitting in rush hour. Toronto came second at 25 minutes and 13 seconds, followed by Halifax (23:31) and Winnipeg (23:01).
With its sea of orange traffic cones and heavy snowfall, Montreal landed in fifth place, with an average of 22 minutes and 9 seconds per 10 km and a congestion level of 28%. That adds up to 70 hours a year lost in traffic — frustrating, but still better than the worst offenders.
To put things in perspective, Canada’s most traffic-clogged cities aren’t nearly as bad as the world’s worst. Vancouver, which holds the title for Canada’s most congested city, sits at 69th place globally — a far cry from major gridlock hotspots like London (#5), New York City (#25), and Barranquilla, Colombia (#1).
Here’s how all 13 Canadian cities included in TomTom’s 2024 Traffic Index ranked:
- Vancouver — 27 min 3 s per 10 km, 35% congestion, 86 hours lost per year
- Toronto — 25 min 13 s, 31% congestion, 77 hours lost
- Halifax — 23 min 31 s, 30% congestion, 83 hours lost
- Winnipeg — 23 min 1 s, 26% congestion, 74 hours lost
- Montreal — 22 min 9 s, 28% congestion, 70 hours lost
- London — 20 min 22 s, 28% congestion, 60 hours lost
- Edmonton — 19 min 49 s, 21% congestion, 50 hours lost
- Calgary — 18 min 11 s, 23% congestion, 49 hours lost
- Ottawa — 16 min 56 s, 26% congestion, 55 hours lost
- Hamilton — 16 min 46 s, 21% congestion, 39 hours lost
- Quebec City — 16 min 41 s, 25% congestion, 49 hours lost
- Waterloo — 16 min 27 s, 19% congestion, 31 hours lost
- Kitchener — 14 min 50 s, 18% congestion, 26 hours lost
Interestingly, many Canadian cities ranked worse for traffic than some major global hubs, including Miami (#281), Bangkok (#161) and even Los Angeles (#329).
TomTom’s report factors in both static elements, like road design and speed limits, and unpredictable ones, like accidents, construction, and weather.
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