The Trans-Canada Highway (French: ) is a transcontinental highway system within the country of Canada. The system traverses all ten provinces of Canada, and the main route travels between Victoria, British Columbia, and St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, making it one of the longest routes of its type in the world.
Construction of the main route started in 1950 due to the signing of the Trans-Canada Highway Act. This act allowed federal and provincial governments to begin building sections of the highway. The highway was opened by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in 1962; however, construction of the route was not completed until 1971. Since the opening of the main route, numerous other routes have been designated to the system, which connect to the main route at numerous points. The largest of these routes is the Yellowhead Highway from Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, to Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, which runs north of the main route. The entire system, including all routes, totals a distance of approximately .
The routes within the Trans-Canada Highway system are built to varying design standards. Although some portions are divided highways or freeways, the majority of the highway sections are two-lane, undivided highways, as the system was originally designed as such. The longest divided highway segment in the system runs approximately from the Rocky Mountains to the Manitoba–Ontario provincial border. Although the network does not enter any of Canada's three northern territories or run to the United States border, it does form part of the country's National Highway System (NHS), whose other routes provide connections to the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and the border.
Jurisdiction and designation
Canada's National Highway System is not under federal jurisdiction or coordination, as highway construction and maintenance are entirely under the jurisdiction of the individual provinces, which also handle route numbering on the Trans-Canada Highway. The Western provinces have voluntarily coordinated their highway numbers so that the main Trans-Canada route is designated Highway 1 and the Yellowhead route is designated Highway 16 throughout. Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador also designate Highway 1 as their section of the TCH, while New Brunswick uses Highway 2 (a separate important highway—albeit non-TCH—is Highway 1 in that province). East of Manitoba, the highway numbers change at each provincial boundary, or within a province (especially in Ontario and Quebec) as the TCH piggybacks along separate provincial highways (which often continue as non-TCH routes outside the designated sections) en route. In addition, Ontario and Quebec use standard provincial highway shields to number the highway within their boundaries, but post numberless Trans-Canada Highway shields alongside them to identify it. As the Trans-Canada route was composed of sections from pre-existing provincial highways, it is unlikely that the Trans-Canada Highway will ever have a uniform designation across the whole country.
Main route
Western Canada
The main Trans-Canada Highway is uniformly designated as Highway 1 across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. The main route begins in Victoria near the "Mile 0" plaque. The highway starts by passing northward along the east coast of Vancouver Island to Nanaimo. After passing through downtown Nanaimo, the highway crosses the Strait of Georgia to Horseshoe Bay via BC Ferries. From there, it passes through the Vancouver area, before continuing eastward up the Fraser Valley to Hope. There, the route turns north to head through Fraser Canyon and Thompson Canyon toward Cache Creek. Approaching Kamloops, Highway 1 becomes concurrent with British Columbia Highways 5 and 97, before passing through the city itself. From Kamloops, the highway continues east and crosses two high passes along its route: Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park, and Kicking Horse Pass in Yoho National Park. At Kicking Horse Pass, the highest point on the whole Trans-Canada Highway system is reached, at . The high pass marks the boundary between British Columbia and Alberta (and also between Yoho and Banff National Parks), as well as the Continental Divide of the Americas.
The highway continues through Alberta to Lake Louise, Banff, and Canmore. This section of the highway passes through Banff National Park. After leaving the mountains, it passes through Alberta's largest city, Calgary. The route continues to Medicine Hat, after which the Trans-Canada crosses into Saskatchewan. The highway continues east to Saskatchewan's capital, Regina, and skirts around the city on the Regina Bypass. Beyond Regina, it continues east across the border with Manitoba, to the cities of Brandon and Portage la Prairie, and Winnipeg. The southern portion of Winnipeg's Perimeter Highway (Highway 100) is part of the Trans-Canada Highway, and bypasses the city with a mix of traffic lights and interchanges, while Highway 1 continues through central Winnipeg. The "Highway 1" designation ends at the Manitoba–Ontario border, while the route continues east.
Ontario and Quebec
East of Winnipeg, the highway continues to Ontario and the numeric designation of the highway changes to 17. It continues through Northern and Eastern Ontario, passing through Kenora. In Kenora, the Trans-Canada designation includes both the main route through the city's urban core and the Highway 17A bypass route to the north. The route continues east to Dryden; this section of highway passes through the Canadian Shield, a rugged, forested area with thousands of lakes.
Highway 11/Highway 17 proceeds southeast to Thunder Bay, then northeast to Nipigon. Highway 17 proceeds east from Nipigon along the northern and eastern coast of Lake Superior. At Sault Ste. Marie, the main route turns eastward to Sudbury.
The mainline route then continues east from Sudbury to North Bay. The northern route rejoins the mainline here, which continues to Arnprior, where it widens to a freeway and becomes Highway 417. The freeway continues to Ottawa, passing through the city on Highway 417.
From Ottawa, the highway continues as Autoroute 40 in Quebec. The route then follows Autoroute 25 southbound, crossing the St. Lawrence River through the Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge–Tunnel, and proceeds northeast on Autoroute 20 to near Quebec City. East of , the Trans-Canada Highway continues on Autoroute 20 towards a junction near . At that junction, the highway turns southeast and changes designation to Autoroute 85, then to Route 185 until Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, where Autoroute 85 resumes once again.
Atlantic provinces The Trans-Canada Highway crosses into New Brunswick and becomes Route 2 just northwest of Edmundston. From Edmundston, the highway (again signed exclusively with the TCH shield) follows the Saint John River Valley, running south to Woodstock (parallelling the Canada–United States border) and then east for another to pass through Fredericton and continues to Moncton. From Moncton, the highway continues to a junction at Aulac close to the New Brunswick–Nova Scotia border (near Sackville). Here, the Trans-Canada Highway again splits into two routes, with the main route continuing to the nearby border with Nova Scotia as Route 2, and a route designated as Route 16, which runs east to the Confederation Bridge at Cape Jourimain.
From New Brunswick, the main Trans-Canada Highway route continues east into Nova Scotia as Nova Scotia Highway 104, passing the town of Amherst. Southeast of Amherst (near Thomson Station), the highway traverses the Cobequid Pass towards Truro, where it links with Highway 102 to Halifax. Beyond Truro, the highway continues east to New Glasgow, where it meets Highway 106; it then continues to the Canso Causeway, which crosses the Strait of Canso onto Cape Breton Island near Port Hawkesbury. From the Canso Causeway, the highway continues east, now designated as Highway 105 on Cape Breton Island, until reaching the Marine Atlantic ferry terminal at North Sydney.
From North Sydney, a ferry route continues the highway to Newfoundland, arriving at Channel-Port aux Basques, whereby the Trans-Canada Highway assumes the designation of Highway 1. The highway runs northeast for through Corner Brook, and travels east for another through Gander. It then travels another southeast, and then northeast. Finally, the Trans-Canada Highway ends at St. John's. From Channel-Port aux Basques to its eastern terminus in the provincial capital city, the highway travels in total, across the island. The eastern terminus of the highway is at an intersection with Outer Bay Road/White Hills Road and Logy Bay Road. The majority of the Trans-Canada Highway in Newfoundland is undivided, though sections in Corner Brook, Grand Falls-Windsor, Glovertown, and a section from Whitbourne to St. John's are divided.
Other routes Highway 16 (Yellowhead Highway)
The Yellowhead Highway (YH) is a highway in Western Canada, running from Masset, British Columbia, on Graham Island (in Haida Gwaii), east to where it intersects the main Trans-Canada Highway (PTH-1) just west of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, near Winnipeg. It is designated as Highway 16 in all four provinces that it passes through (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba). It follows a more northerly east–west route across Western Canada than the main TCH and passes through fewer cities. Other major municipalities on the route include Prince Rupert, Prince George, Edmonton, Lloydminster, Saskatoon, and Yorkton.
Northern Ontario and Quebec routes The section of Highway 17 and Highway 11 between Kenora and North Bay, Ontario, is considered part of the Trans-Canada Highway. This highway first runs south of the main route between Kenora and Thunder Bay, passing through the town of Fort Frances on the U.S. border. Then, after running concurrently with the main Trans-Canada Highway route, Highway 11 splits off to the north at Nipigon, running through a vast and sparsely populated area of northern Ontario. A much shorter section of Highway 66 connects another northern Trans-Canada Highway route to Quebec Highway 117, which itself continues the TCH route to Montreal after connecting with Autoroute 15. The main Highway 11 continues south until it intersects the main Trans-Canada Highway route (Highway 17) in North Bay.
Central Ontario / Georgian Bay route
The southern Ontario Trans-Canada Highway route is even more abstract than the northern ones, as it uses four different provincial highways, and is largely non-functional as a major long distance corridor due to its roundabout route and the complete avoidance of the Toronto area. It is a alternate route to Highway 17 (the mainline TCH) between Sudbury and Ottawa. It passes through several major communities, including Orillia and Peterborough. Because it passes closer to major population centres, this section of the TCH sees higher traffic volumes. It is made up of various sections of freeways, expressways, and two-lane routes.
Prince Edward Island route
Another spur route of the Trans-Canada Highway splits off the mainline in eastern New Brunswick. This route connects to Prince Edward Island across the Confederation Bridge, crosses the central part of Prince Edward Island, including through the provincial capital of Charlottetown, before crossing back to the mainland on a ferry. This length of the route is , and consists of New Brunswick Highway 16, Prince Edward Island Highway 1, and Nova Scotia Highway 106. This leg of the Trans-Canada Highway sees moderately high traffic volumes and is an important tourist route. The Confederation Bridge is often viewed as an attraction in itself. Although the highway is mostly a two-lane route, portions of the route are built as two-lane expressways.
Bypasses