Official registries and open data list 1,062 active companies in transportation and warehousing in Ontario, which puts Ontario in 2nd place in Canada for this sector (2 % of the national total). 38 of them (4 %) have at least one known director, and 13 (1 %) published an official change in the last 18 months: incorporation, amendment, change of director or address.
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Get 5 profiles from this segmentTransportation and warehousing account for $96.5 billion of GDP (4.3% of the economy) and nearly 1.1 million jobs in Canada. A few large networks sit alongside a multitude of small trucking carriers, brokers and warehouses. Between 2024 and 2026 the sector has been shaped by US tariffs, labour disputes at ports and railways, the fight against the Driver Inc. model and a wave of record investment.
NAICS 48-49 brings together trucking, rail, air, marine, transit, pipelines, couriers, warehousing and support services (customs brokers, freight forwarders). Transport Canada puts its direct contribution to GDP at $96.5 billion in 2024, or 4.3% of the economy, up 2.6%, and the Labour Force Survey counts 1,094,200 people employed in December 2025, including 444,100 in Ontario, 221,800 in Quebec, 149,200 in Alberta and 147,500 in British Columbia.
A few large networks dominate: CN (45% of the 48,010 route-kilometres of track) and CPKC (26.8%), Air Canada and WestJet, Canada Post and Purolator, the ports of Vancouver (158 million tonnes and 3.5 million TEUs in 2024), Montreal, Prince Rupert and Halifax. Below them, ISED counts 315,491 establishments in 2025, including 241,738 without employees (owner-operators, delivery drivers) and 73,753 employers, of which 74.6% have fewer than five employees and only 188 have 500 or more.
Trucking is the most populous subsector, with about 152,000 companies in December 2024 according to Transport Canada. Ontario (33,687 employers) holds nearly half of the sector's employers, ahead of Quebec (13,582), Alberta (9,596) and British Columbia (8,341).
Trade dictates volumes. US tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos and lumber, then the universal 10% tariff of July 2026, have reduced cross-border truck and rail flows southward, while diversification efforts toward Asia and Europe support the Pacific and Atlantic ports. Truck border crossings were already down 1.1% in 2024, while containers at the four major ports rose 4.6%.
Labour disputes marked 2024 and 2025: simultaneous stoppages at CN and CPKC in August 2024, strikes at the ports of Montreal and Vancouver, then at Canada Post, each time with federal recourse to arbitration. In trucking, Federal Budget 2025 announced $77 million over four years to the Canada Revenue Agency to tackle the Driver Inc. model (drivers wrongly treated as independent contractors).
Investment is reaching new highs: Statistics Canada expects $61.0 billion of capital expenditures in 2026, the largest increase of any industrial sector (+$5.6 billion), driven by ports, airports, transit (Metrolinx, REM, Ontario Line) and fleet renewal. Vacant driver positions fell 36% year over year in the second quarter of 2024, to about 15,460, a sign of a less tight but still aging labour market.
The federal government regulates rail, air, marine, pipelines and interprovincial trucking (Transport Canada, Canadian Transportation Agency, Canada Labour Code). Provinces govern intraprovincial trucking, permits and road safety (Commission des transports du Québec, Ontario's Commercial Vehicle Operator's Registration). Ports and airports fall under autonomous authorities created by federal statute.
Associations structure the sector: the Canadian Trucking Alliance and its provincial members (Association du camionnage du Québec, Ontario Trucking Association, BC Trucking Association), the Railway Association of Canada, the National Airlines Council of Canada, the Association of Canadian Port Authorities and the Chamber of Marine Commerce.
The major buyers are shippers (retailers, manufacturers, resource and food producers), transit agencies, ports and airports for their works, and the federal government through the National Trade Corridors Fund and the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Third-party logistics providers and freight brokers link them to the tens of thousands of small carriers.
Who buys what: trucking carriers with 5 to 99 employees (17,449 employers) buy trucks and trailers, fuel, tires and maintenance, fleet insurance, telematics, dispatch and compliance software, financing and leasing, driver recruiting and immigration. Warehouses and logistics firms buy warehouse management systems, automated handling, industrial premises and temporary labour. Ports, airports and transit agencies buy civil engineering, rolling stock and security systems.
Signals to watch: public contracts for transit and port infrastructure, new registrations in carrier registries and with the Commission des transports du Québec, monthly border crossing data, driver job postings and US tariff decisions that redirect flows.
How ciblr helps: segment by NAICS subsector (484 trucking, 488 support services, 492 couriers, 493 warehousing) and by province, filter employers with 5 to 99 people (the heart of the fleet market), track recent creations near the major corridors, and cross-reference public contracts and hiring to spot growing carriers.
The largest market with 444,100 jobs, 33,687 employers and $33.9 billion of sector GDP (2024). The 401 corridor, the Windsor bridges, Pearson airport and the Toronto region's warehouses make it the country's logistics centre; Metrolinx and the Ontario Line feed transit suppliers.
Of these 1,062 companies, 39 are federally incorporated, 825 are known through the provincial registry, 198 only through open data (licences, public contracts, grants, registered employers). 22 of them were founded in 2025 and 2026, that is 2 % of the active base; 17 incorporations in 2025. That is below the average of the three previous years (24 a year): the pace of creation is slowing.
Over the last 12 months, 21 companies in the sector (2 %) won at least one public contract, 179 contracts in all, published by governments, cities and public bodies. 14 received a federal grant or contribution (19 agreements).
Headcount is known for 995 companies (94 %): 8,218 declared jobs in total, and the median company has 1-4 employees.
172 companies (16 %) publish a general phone or email, 137 have a website verified by ciblr, 8 hold an official licence or permit.
Moves published in the last 90 days: 4 relocations, 1 public contracts.
1,062 companies in transportation and warehousing are active in Ontario according to official registries and open data, that is 2 % of the 42,900 companies in the sector across Canada.
38 of these companies (4 %) have at least one director on the federal registry (the only registry that publishes directors), which lets you approach them through the right person.
ciblr sends 5 company profiles from this target free of charge, directors and contact details included. The subscription at 99 CAD per month gives access to the whole target, with Excel export and change tracking.
Every company counted here is active in an official registry (Corporations Canada, Registraire des entreprises du Québec, OrgBook BC) or named by an official open source (licence, public contract, grant, registered employer). The sector is a NAICS code, size comes from the declared headcount when a source provides it and otherwise from an estimate based on the registry (board size, age, status, statute), and "recent signal" means a published move (incorporation, amendment, change of director, address, contract, grant, hiring) in the last 18 months. Figures are recomputed every week from the ciblr database. No data is purchased or invented.
ciblr sends you 5 profiles of companies in transportation and warehousing in Ontario free of charge, directors and contact details included. For the whole target, the subscription is 99 CAD per month, no commitment.