How Many Pedestrians Die in Canada Each Year?

Quick answer: 298 pedestrians died on Canadian roads in 2023, according to Transport Canada's Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision Statistics: 2023. That was 15.2% of all 1,964 road deaths in Canada that year, and the same pedestrian total as in 2022. The overall death toll was the highest in 10 years, even though the pedestrian count itself did not rise.

The trend over five years

Pedestrian deaths in Canada have stayed close to 300 a year for five years, with no clear fall:

• 2019: 301 pedestrian deaths
• 2020: 286 pedestrian deaths
• 2021: 307 pedestrian deaths
• 2022: 298 pedestrian deaths
• 2023: 298 pedestrian deaths

The total number of people killed on Canadian roads moved more sharply over the same period, from 1,756 in 2019 to 1,964 in 2023. Pedestrians were 17.1% of all deaths in 2019 and 15.2% in 2023, so their share fell slightly even as the total rose. Transport Canada also reports that 2023 saw 9,261 serious injuries and 118,838 injuries of all severities, and that the fatality rate was 4.9 deaths per 100,000 people.

Who else died on Canadian roads in 2023

Pedestrians were the third-largest group of road deaths in 2023, behind drivers and ahead of motorcyclists:

• Drivers: 1,025 deaths, 52.2% of the total
• Passengers: 301 deaths, 15.3% of the total
• Pedestrians: 298 deaths, 15.2% of the total
• Motorcyclists: 229 deaths, 11.7% of the total
• Bicyclists: 47 deaths, 2.4% of the total

Driver deaths rose sharply in 2023, up from 932 in 2022 to 1,025. Passenger deaths fell from 315 to 301, and motorcyclist deaths fell from 251 to 229. The pedestrian total was unchanged, which is why pedestrians made up a slightly smaller share of a larger total.

Where the risk was highest

Transport Canada publishes a fatality rate for each province and territory, measured per 100,000 people. In 2023 the lowest provincial rate was in Ontario, at 3.9, followed by Quebec at 4.3. The highest provincial rate was in New Brunswick, at 8.5, followed by Prince Edward Island at 8.1 and Saskatchewan at 7.6. British Columbia recorded 5.5 and Alberta 6.4.

The territories recorded higher rates, led by Yukon at 19.8 per 100,000 people, but Transport Canada warns that rates in smaller jurisdictions swing widely because the numbers involved are small. A rate is not the same as a count: a small population can produce a high rate from a small number of deaths.

Where collisions happened also matters. In 2023 there were 799 fatal collisions in urban areas and 932 fatal collisions in rural areas, out of 1,768 fatal collisions in total. Rural collisions therefore accounted for more fatal collisions than urban ones, even though far more injury collisions happened in urban areas. For the latest picture across the country, see Canada and today's accident reports.

What was happening in fatal collisions

Transport Canada's contributing-factor figures cover fatal collisions in general, not pedestrian collisions alone, and they are estimated from a subset of provinces and territories. In 2023, speed or driving too fast was recorded in 24.8% of fatal collisions, impaired driving or driving under the influence in 21.9%, and distraction in 17.8%. A single collision can have more than one contributing factor, so these shares do not add up to 100%.

Two other figures from the same 2023 release are worth noting. Among drivers killed in 2023, 32.6% were not wearing a seatbelt, up from 29.1% in 2022. And 53 pedestrians died in collisions involving a commercial motor vehicle in 2023, out of 399 deaths in commercial-vehicle collisions in total. Most deaths in those collisions were people in passenger vehicles, at 216.

Staying safer as a pedestrian

The numbers point to a few simple habits that help on every walk, whatever the statistics for a given year:

• Cross at marked crossings where they exist, and check for turning vehicles even when the signal is in your favour.
• Make yourself visible after dark, especially on rural roads and roads with higher speed limits.
• Put the phone away while crossing, and keep attention on traffic rather than on a screen.
• Drivers can help by slowing down where people walk, watching for pedestrians at junctions, and never driving after drinking or taking drugs.

None of these steps removes the risk, but each one addresses a factor that appears again and again in the national figures.

How these numbers were counted

These figures come from Transport Canada's National Collision Database, which collects police-reported motor vehicle collisions from the provinces and territories. The 2023 release is the most recent national release, published in 2025. Transport Canada notes that data for Ontario and Alberta are preliminary for 2023, data for New Brunswick were estimated, and a change in how Manitoba collects collision reports increased the number of minor injuries captured in 2023. The latest year can therefore be revised as reports are finalised. For wider context, see the site's statistics pages.