Logistics services in Canada.

Canada logistics overview: modes, trade and gateways

Canada connects to global trade by sea, air, rail, and road. Container ports such as Halifax, Vancouver, Montreal, Prince Rupert, Quebec, and Toronto link ocean services with inland distribution. Rail covers about 49,400 km, with corridors to the US at crossings like Vancouver-Seattle, Montreal-New York, and Toronto-New York. Shippers also use 137 airports with scheduled flights, supported by strong logistics performance and short export and import lead times of about 4 and 5 days.

High export and import values, together above 1.1 trillion USD, are concentrated in flows with partners such as the USA, China, Mexico, the UK, and Japan. Crude petroleum, natural gas, refined petroleum, cars, and gold move out of Canada, while inbound loads include cars, trucks, vehicle parts, refined petroleum, and crude petroleum. Ocean shipping, cross-border road freight, long-haul rail, and scheduled air cargo all support these trades.

When choosing freight forwarders in Canada, shippers deal with a country that ranks 7 of 169 on the Logistics Performance Index and 1 of 2 in North America, but with a lower score on international shipments (3.6) than on infrastructure and logistics quality. Forwarders familiar with major ports such as Vancouver, Halifax, Montreal, Prince Rupert, Quebec, and Toronto can route sea freight efficiently, including via short sea links to US ports like Oakland, Los Angeles, and New York. Experience with primary air gateways such as Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Hamilton, and Kelowna also matters.

Canada trades heavily with the USA, China, Mexico, the UK, Germany, and Japan, and is part of USMCA, APEC, ASEAN, and the OECD. Forwarders and customs brokers should understand this trade pattern, including flows of crude petroleum, refined petroleum, cars, trucks, and vehicle parts. Shippers can also consider which global carriers have local offices in cities such as Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Mississauga, and how they perform on tracking and tracing, where Canada scores 4.1 against a world median of 2.8.

Canada handles about 6.4 million TEU a year and ranks 29 of 168 globally and 2 of 3 in North America for container volume. Liner connectivity is moderate with an index of 48.84 and a regional rank of 2 of 3, supported by many coastal facilities: there are about 284 ports, including key hubs at Vancouver, Halifax, Montreal, Prince Rupert, Quebec, Toronto, and Sept Iles. Large ports such as Halifax, Vancouver, Montreal, and Canaport (St. John) serve as ocean gateways, with cargo pier depths up to about 17 m at Sept Iles and rail access in Halifax and Vancouver.

Major container shipping lines with offices in Canada include MSC, ZIM, CMA CGM, COSCO, Hapag-Lloyd, Evergreen, HMM, OOCL, Maersk, ONE, and SM Line, present in cities such as Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Mississauga. Observed FCL freight rates show a median all in price of about 2,300 USD for a 40HC from Montreal to Hamburg and about 6,046 USD for a 20ST from Montreal to Mundra, both quoted on 2026-10-29. Short sea legs such as Vancouver to Oakland at 1,669 km and Vancouver to Los Angeles at 2,288 km connect Canadian ports to US west coast gateways.

Air freight in Canada relies on 137 airports with scheduled services within a broader network of about 1,459 airports. Main airports handling scheduled traffic include Calgary (YYC), Edmonton (YEG), Halifax (YHZ), Hamilton (YHM), and Kelowna (YLW). International air routes also link Toronto (YYZ) with hubs such as New York (JFK), Cincinnati (CVG), and Chicago (ORD) at distances between about 600 and 740 km.

Canada moved about 2.0 billion tonne-km of air cargo in 2023 and ranks 16 of 184 countries worldwide, and 2 of 2 in its region. Air freight typically complements high-value and time-sensitive exports such as gold, refined petroleum, and cars, and supports imports of cars, trucks, vehicle parts, and other manufactured goods from partners including the USA, China, Mexico, Germany, and Japan.

Rail and road freight in Canada supports both domestic transport and cross-border flows with the USA and Denmark (Greenland). The rail network extends about 49,400 km, moving about 430,000 million tonne-km in 2021 and ranking 6 of 113 worldwide, and 2 of 2 in its region. Ports like Halifax and Vancouver have direct rail links, feeding inland hubs including Montreal, Toronto, and beyond.

Road and rail border crossings to the USA are extensive, covering about 8,891 km, including about 2,475 km with Alaska. Typical cross-border corridors include Vancouver to Seattle by both rail (about 247 km) and road (about 263 km), and Montreal to New York and Toronto to New York by rail and road at distances between about 600 and 770 km. Overland freight also connects to short sea routes from ports such as Vancouver to Oakland and Los Angeles, and Montreal to New York, supporting integrated truck-rail-sea services.

The Canada Border Services Agency is the national authority for customs clearance in Canada. The country is a member of the World Customs Organization since 1971-10-12 and participates in the World Trade Organization. It also belongs to trade and economic groups such as ASEAN, USMCA, OECD, and APEC, and applies an average tariff of about 1.4 percent.

Canada’s Logistics Performance Index customs score is 4, compared with a world median of 2.6, and the overall LPI score is 4 versus a world median of 2.7. Export border compliance typically takes about 4 days and import procedures about 5 days. For most shipments, customs brokers and forwarders will work from a commercial invoice, packing list, and transport document aligned with these timelines and the relatively low average tariff level.