National Highway System (Canada)

National Highway System
Route information
Length	38,021 km (23,625 mi)
Existed	1988–present
Location
Country	Canada
Highway system

The National Highway System in Canada is a federal designation for a strategic transport network of highways and freeways. The system includes but is not limited to the Trans-Canada Highway, and currently consists of 38,021 kilometres (23,625 mi) of roadway designated under one of three classes: Core Routes, Feeder Routes, and Northern and Remote Routes.

Unlike the similar National Highway System in the United States, the Canadian system does not include any federally-maintained highways comparable to the Interstates or the U.S. Route System, and the Government of Canada maintains very little power or authority over the maintenance or expansion of the system beyond sharing part of the cost of strategically important highway projects. Highways within the system are not given any special signage, except where they are part of a Trans-Canada Highway route.

History

The system was first designated in 1988 by the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety, a council consisting of the federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Transport. A total of 24,500 kilometres (15,200 mi) of highway were originally designated as part of the system. Highways selected for the system were existing primary routes that supported interprovincial and international trade and travel, by connecting major population or commercial centres with each other, with major border crossings on the Canada-United States border, or with other transport hubs.

The system was further expanded in the 2000s, with the addition of approximately 14,000 kilometres (8,700 mi) of highway that was not part of the original 1988 designation. It was in this era that the current "core", "feeder" and "Northern or remote" classes of route were established. Not all highways within the system are designated in their entirety, but may instead be part of the system over only part of their length; a few highways even have two or more discontinuous segments designated as part of the system. In some locations, the National Highway System may also incorporate city arterial streets to connect highway routes which are part of the system but do not directly interconnect, or to link the system to an important intermodal transport hub — such as a shipping port, a railway terminal, an airport or a ferry terminal — which is not directly located on a provincial-class highway.

Routes within the system continue to be maintained, funded and signed as provincial, rather than federal, highways. However, the federal government provides some funding assistance for important maintenance and expansion projects on designated highways through various cost sharing programs. For instance, several recent maintenance projects on National Highway System routes in Saskatchewan were partly funded under the federal government's Building Canada Fund - Major Infrastructure Component, while several four-laning projects in Ontario in the 2000s accessed federal funding under the Strategic Highway Infrastructure Program.

The National Highway System has, however, been criticized for lacking a truly comprehensive expansion plan. In many parts of the country, the system relies on two-lane highways, or expressways which are not fully up to international motorway standards; according to Lakehead University economics professor Livio di Matteo, many parts of the system still leave "the nation’s east-west flow of personal and commercial traffic subject to the whims of an errant moose".

Routes

In its current form, the National Highway System includes routes in all Canadian provinces and territories except Nunavut, which has no conventional road connections to any other Canadian province or territory.

Alberta

The system includes 4,384 kilometres (2,724 mi) of highway in Alberta.

• Alberta Highway 1 (C) - Trans-Canada Highway
• Alberta Highway 2 (C) - Highway 3 to Edmonton; Donnelly to Highway 35
• Alberta Highway 3 (C) - Crowsnest Highway
• Alberta Highway 4 (C) - Coutts to Lethbridge
• Alberta Highway 9 (C)
• Alberta Highway 15 (C) - Edmonton to Highway 28A
• Alberta Highway 16 (C) - Yellowhead Highway
• Alberta Highway 28 (C, F) - core from Gibbons to Highway 63; feeder from Highway 63 to Cold Lake
• Alberta Highway 28A (C) - Highway 15 to Gibbons
• Alberta Highway 35 (C) - Mackenzie Highway
• Alberta Highway 43 (C)
• Alberta Highway 49 (C) - Valleyview to Donnelly
• Alberta Highway 58 (N) - Rainbow Lake to Highway 88
• Alberta Highway 63 (C) - Highway 28 to Fort McMurray
• Alberta Highway 69 (C) - intermodal link from Highway 63 to Fort McMurray Airport
• 96 Av NE and Barlow Trail in Calgary (C) - intermodal link from Highway 2 to Calgary International Airport
• Barlow Trail, 114th Ave SE, 52nd Street SE and Dufferin Place SE in Calgary (C) - intermodal link from Highway 2 to CP Rail terminal
• Barlow Trail, 54th Avenue SE and 27th Street SE in Calgary (C) - intermodal link from Highway 2 to CN Rail terminal
• 184th Street in Edmonton (C) - intermodal link from Highway 16 to CN Rail terminal

British Columbia

The system includes 7,032 kilometres (4,369 mi) of highway in British Columbia.

• British Columbia Highway 1 (C) - Trans-Canada Highway
• British Columbia Highway 2 (C) - Alberta border to Dawson Creek
• British Columbia Highway 3 (C) - Crowsnest Highway
• British Columbia Highway 5 (C) - Tete Jaune Cache to Hope
• British Columbia Highway 11 (C) - Abbotsford to Huntingdon
• British Columbia Highway 15/8th Avenue (C) - Douglas
• British Columbia Highway 16 (C) - Yellowhead Highway
• British Columbia Highway 17 (C) - Victoria to Highway 99
• British Columbia Highway 19 (C, F) - core from Nanaimo to Parksville; feeder from Parksville to Campbell River
• British Columbia Highway 97 (C, F) - core from Peachland to 97A/97B near Vernon and from Cache Creek to Yukon Highway 1; feeder from US border to Peachland
• British Columbia Highway 97A (C) - Highway 97 spur into Sicamous
• British Columbia Highway 97B (C) - Highway 97 spur into Salmon Arm
• British Columbia Highway 97C (C) - Connecting link between Highways 5 and 97
• British Columbia Highway 99 (C) - Douglas to Whistler

Manitoba

The system includes 2,093 kilometres (1,301 mi) of highway in Manitoba.

• Manitoba Highway 1 (C) - Trans-Canada Highway
• Manitoba Highway 6 (F) - Winnipeg to Thompson
• Manitoba Highway 10 (C, N) - core from Highway 1 at Brandon to Highway 16 at Minnedosa; northern from Highway 60 to Flin Flon
• Manitoba Highway 16 (C) - Yellowhead Highway
• Manitoba Highway 60 (N)
• Manitoba Highway 75 (C)
• Manitoba Highway 100 (C) - Perimeter Highway
• Manitoba Highway 101 (C) - Perimeter Highway

New Brunswick

The system includes 1,825 kilometres (1,134 mi) of highway in New Brunswick.

Newfoundland and Labrador

The system includes 7,032 kilometres (4,369 mi) of highway in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Northwest Territories

The system includes 1,423 kilometres (884 mi) of highway in the Northwest Territories.

• Northwest Territories Highway 1 (C, N) - Mackenzie Highway; core from Alberta-NWT border to Highway 3, northern from Highway 3 to Wrigley
• Northwest Territories Highway 2 (C) - Hay River Highway
• Northwest Territories Highway 3 (C) - Yellowknife Highway
• Northwest Territories Highway 4 (N) - Ingraham Trail

Nova Scotia

The system includes 1,199 kilometres (745 mi) of highway in Nova Scotia.

Ontario

The system includes 6,836 kilometres (4,248 mi) of highway in Ontario.

Prince Edward Island

The system includes 396 kilometres (246 mi) of highway in Prince Edward Island.

Quebec

The system includes 5,649 kilometres (3,510 mi) of highway in Quebec.

Saskatchewan

The system includes 2,688 kilometres (1,670 mi) of highway in Saskatchewan.

• Saskatchewan Highway 1 (C) - Trans-Canada Highway
• Saskatchewan Highway 2 (C, N) - core from Moose Jaw to Highway 11; northern from Prince Albert to La Ronge
• Saskatchewan Highway 7 (C)
• Saskatchewan Highway 10 (C)
• Saskatchewan Highway 11 (C)
• Saskatchewan Highway 16 (C) - Yellowhead Highway
• Lewvan Drive and Regina Avenue in Regina (C) - intermodal link from Highway 1 to Regina International Airport
• Airport Drive in Saskatoon (C) - intermodal link from Highway 16 to Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport
• 11th Street and Chappel Drive in Saskatoon (C) - intermodal link to CN Rail terminal

Yukon

The system includes 2,027 kilometres (1,260 mi) of highway in Yukon.

• Yukon Highway 1 (C)
• Yukon Highway 2 (C)
• Yukon Highway 5 (N)