Winnipeg traffic congestion crawls along to sixth worst in the country

Winnipeg has been ranked the sixth most traffic-congested city in Canada.

In 2025, the TomTom Traffic Index found traffic bottlenecks and other delays added up to 94 hours of extra commuting time for the average local driver.

City vehicles had an average speed of 25 km/h throughout the day, which dropped to 20.3 km/h during rush hour.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said the findings make sense, given the city’s population and focus on road renewal.

“We’re about the sixth-largest city in Canada. We have had near-record investment in road construction, and we’ve seen significant population growth over the last several years, so I think all of those factors combined would land us in about the sixth spot,” said Gillingham.

While he acknowledged road construction as a key traffic delay, the mayor stressed more of that work is still needed.

“We have to make sure we continue to invest in road construction and upgrading the infrastructure that had, for so many years, been left really untouched or not invested in,” said Gillingham.

The index ranked Vancouver worst in the country, with the average driver losing 112 hours due to rush-hour congestion per year. Toronto, Halifax, Montreal and Quebec City followed.

TomTom, a map-making and navigation tech company, found the worst day to travel in Winnipeg last year was Dec. 19, the day after a blizzard began wreaking havoc with the roads. It took about 15 minutes to drive 3.2 kilometres at 3 p.m. that day.

When asked if Winnipeg should do more to alleviate traffic delays, the mayor noted the city regularly posts social media warnings about backups and lane closures. The city also urges Winnipeggers to use the free Waze app while driving, which helps reroute drivers around collisions, construction and other delays.

TomTom said its findings can help people and governments understand the impact of traffic. The index uses anonymized GPS probe data from connected vehicles.

Pete Costello, a senior account manager at TomTom, said cities can purchase more specific congestion data to pinpoint the greatest delays. With that information, they could consider re-timing traffic signals or enhancing public-transportation options to help reduce the wait for drivers.

With data from about one in four vehicles in Winnipeg, the index is quite accurate, he said.

To reduce delays, individual commuters could consider trying to leave earlier or later than peak travel times or riding the bus, Costello said.

“A single occupant vehicle causes congestion, so it is better for everybody if they ride a bus,” he said.

TomTom also offers its own free navigation app to help drivers route around delays, he noted.

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In an email, city spokesman Adam Campbell said Winnipeg’s congestion has multiple causes, including a limited number of bridges for vehicles to cross rivers and increased construction over recent years.

The city encourages Winnipeggers to rely more on buses, walking and cycling and avoid rush-hour driving, when possible.

The city will use the TomTom index, along with other data, as it studies high-volume roads to pinpoint where improvements are needed most, added Campbell.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.