Big spending on public transit has not changed commuting

For over a decade, Canadian governments have poured money into mass transit projects, writes Philip Cross. Photo by Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network files

For over a decade, Canadian governments have poured money into mass transit projects. These outlays totalled $115.4 billion between 2016 and 2025, more than all investment in pipelines over this period and triple that by the auto industry. Public funding of mass transit was supposed to change how Canadians commute to work. The latest data on commuting patterns say it has been an abject failure.

Statistics Canada data show the share of commutes via public transit fell from 12.6 per cent in May 2016 to 11.9 per cent in May 2025. In absolute terms, ridership on urban mass transit has never returned to its pre-pandemic high,