Questions about Canada

How much is gasoline, on average? What is the speed limit? Cops?

I might drive from the west to east coast this summer, headed for Montreal, and could do either US or Canada. I’ve done the US many times and have seen all I care to, for now. Canada might be a nice change.

I would stick to the major highway (ya only got the one, don’t ya?) and wonder if it would be economically sound to travel north first, then east. Does the exchange rate (I’m a damn Yankee, US dollar payer) offset any price differences? And how about law enforcement? Are the “Highway Patrol” or whatever you call them up there vigilant? Can I drive 70-80 mph (I dunno, about 120kmph) and make good distance? Or am I better off whipping accross Nebraska at 3am at 110?

A lot of the major highways here are 110Km/h, which means you can go about 120 without worrying about a ticket. Whether you’re more or less likely to get busted speeding, I don’t know. I’ve never gotten a ticket in the U.S., so I don’t know how common it it.

Whether it’s cheaper or not… probably not. The Canadian dollar is at about 81.5 cents right now, and gas is a lot more than 15% more expensive in Canada than the U.S.

However, for the extra cost you get to see a whole new country. I’d do it, just for that. In fact, I’ve done the reverse several times by coming home through the U.S. parallelling Canada rather than drive into Canada first.

You want to drive the entire Trans-Canada Highway? That’s a long way. A really long way. To do the whole thing, you’d have to take a ferry to Newfoundland and then drive across that island.

And Newfoundland is pretty big. With not many cities in the interior. But you may as well do it right.

For the record, it’s 4861 miles long and if you stay on it, you will never hit Toronto.

It’s 6 in the morning and I just woke up so I’m not doing any conversions, but when I was in Canada just a few weeks ago I believe gas was about 78¢/L (does that sound right, I really didn’t pay much attention). As for the speed limit we entered from Detroit and traveled from the 403 to the 420 to the QEW all the way to the Rainbow bridge. I think during that three hours I only saw two cops and I didn’t get pulled over going 130 km/h.

There are plenty of “major highways” in the largest metropolitan areas, some of which will make your head spin.

“Highway Patrol” is usually left up to each province, in Ontario that would be the “OPP” (Ontario Provincial Police) for example. They can be vigilant if they’re holding a safety blitz or something, otherwise it’s normal. They do speed traps, but they probably won’t bother nailing you for doing 120 in a 100 -unless they’re really bored. I’ve never driven out of province so I’m not sure how buggy those cops can be.

When are you going? The highway patrol will often hold blitzes where they attempt to drum up a lot of news coverage by going really hard on drivers, but those are usually in the spring & summer and around the area between “cottage country” and the more southern cities (in the southern Ontario region that is).

Gas prices change daily (literally -sometimes even fluctuating within the day), and by area. I filled up on Monday, and paid 78.9 cents per Litre (Litre, not Gallon -like a bottle of soda). Right now it seems to be keeping between 75 and 82 cents. Check here for the latest prices.

Here’s a pretty good conversion site where you can figure out Gallons vs. Litres, Miles vs. Kilometers, Celcius vs. Farenheit, and just about anything else you may need.

And here’s a currency conversion tool I use.

Outside of cities, “highway patrol” is OPP in Ontario, Surete du Quebec (sometimes called QPP) in Quebec, and RCMP most other places (not sure about Newfoundland - do they still have the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary?).

Quicky conversion for you so you don’t get a painful speeding ticket - remember that our speed limit signs are in kilometres per hour, and 100 km/h = 60 m/h.

in the interest of GQ, it’ll cost more for your gas in Canada. I think it cost C$40 for a fill in Canada and C$28 in the US when we drove to FLA at Christmas. The food at restaurants seems to be a little cheaper in Canada after exchange is factored in. As far as police, they don’t seem to notice if you are going 15-20km/h over the limit. By the way, you’ll also be adding a couple of extra days by heading to the Great White North before heading east.

I assume that you were joking about only having the one highway, but in fact getting from Manitoba to Ontario there really is only the one.

I’ve done the drive a couple of times from the Toronto area to Alberta and back and thoroughly enjoyed it. I found it fascinating to watch the terrain change as you went west. The most dramatic changes were starting into the Canadian Shield a couple hours out of Toronto, the rolling stoney hills between the Sault and Thunder Bay, the nonstop trees until the Manitoba border and WHAM! no trees and flat, flat, FLAT land as you roll on to Winnipeg. 'Course, it’s flat for the next couple days of driving, so bring some sort of entertainment for the praires. It’s less dramatic coming east as you’ve got the praires for a couple days, then trees and hills for a couple more days before you actually hit any major population.

It’s been a decade since I last did the drive, but be prepared for some differences from the US in the look and feel of the highway. Not the road, but the accessibility to services. Occasionally there are service centres on the highway, and the prices are higher for gas and goods. You can try to find stuff in the communities off the highway, but Canada lacks the 10-storey tall gas and food signs so prevalent in the US so I find I end up having to search around a little before finding what I am looking for. Don’t count on stopping at a Cracker Barrel or Bob Evans, there aren’t any and Denny’s are few and far between.

I think it took us 4 days to get from Banff to Toronto with minimal stops during 8-10 hour driving days.

This may be of some help…

Sam’s right that you’re not likely to save money by making a northward detour. His statement that

… only really applies in the western half of the country, as far as I know. In Ontario, which will make up a huge chunk of your west-east trip (depending on where you enter the country), there are no highways with limits over 100 km/h. In the northwest, (like, along the shore of Lakes Superior and Huron, I’m confident (not 100% sure, but close to it) that the limits on the TransCanada are 90 km/h.

The TransCanada in Ontario is called “Hwy 17”, and runs from the Manitoba border to Quebec via Kenora, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste Marie, Sudbury, and Ottawa. In the last stretch near Ottawa it becomes a four-lane divided expressway, and is thus renamed “Hwy 417”.

That’s actually useful to know for travel in Ontario. 400-series roads are the fast ones. They’re divided expressways of at least two lanes per direction. Speed limits are 100 km/h, but it’s usual to find traffic flowing at 120-130 km/h without hassle from the police. On other roads - Hwy 17, for example, you usually find one lane per direction divided only by a yellow line, with variably-frequent passing lanes and stretches of 4-lane-divided. On the two-lane sections of these roads, 90 km/h is the usual limit, sometimes reduced where the highway passes through a settlement. Traffic flow is more commonly at 100-110 km/h in good weather.

Know that ‘driving too fast for conditions’ is an offence in Ontario (not a criminal one), so exercise judgement during inclement weather. 400-series highways are mostly found in the southwest portion. If you want to use them and are coming from the northwest part of the province, you need to head south from Sudbury, then continue east from Toronto or so. There exists one toll highway in Ontario - the 407 Express Toll Route sort of encircles Toronto. Tolls are charged electronically, so there’s no stopping.

Depending on where you enter the province, here’s my recommended routes:

Entering from Manitoba
Hwy 17 from Manitoba border to Quebec (becomes 417 west of Ottawa). This simple route has more services along it than the remote and more northerly Hwy 11 that arcs north of it until meeting it east of Sudbury (at North Bay). Scenic, it takes you through the hilly country of Northwestern Ontario, the shoes of Lake Superior, the forests of Northeastern Ontario, the foothills of the Laurentians (just the view of lake Nipissing at North Bay is probably worth it), the valley of the Ottawa River, and through the heart of the national capital, within sight of the Parliament buildings. In my opinion, it’s much prettier than the 401 route in Southern Ontario, but of course, I’m from Sudbury, and likes me my forests. Waypoints include Kenora, Thunder Bay, Wawa, Sault Ste Marie, Sudbury, Ottawa.

Alternately, if you want to see Toronto, turn south when you set to Sudbury, and follow Hwy 69 (becomes Hwy 400). Take Canada’s busiest highway (the 401) east from Toronto. (There are plenty of alternatives in the Toronto area.) The 401 does not pass through Ottawa.
Entering from Minnesota
Take Hwy 11 (which follows the border, more or less) to Thunder Bay, then Hwy 17 as described above.
Entering from Michigan (Upper Peninsula)
Cross at Sault Ste Marie, and take Hwy 17 as described above.
Entering from Michigan (Lower Peninsula)
Cross at Detroit/Windsor, and take the 401 right through to Quebec. If you’re itching to see Ottawa, jog north on the 416 when you get to it.

If for some reason you’re in the norhtern Lower Peninsula of Michigan, it’s easier to cross at Port Huron/Sarnia, and take the 402 to the 401.

On preview, I see cantara has added some info. I’ll note that in the decade since s/he did that trip, services have probably improved on Hwy 17, and access to services on the 17 is better than on the northern arc of the 11, which is part of why I recommended it.
Also, by contacting the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, you can get a free paper copy of the Official Raod Map of Ontario, linked above in PDF format.

(Footnote: This is my 1000th post!)

One note about cops-- in much of the country, the Mounties do the job. In some places the RCMP overlaps with local cops too. The upshot is that if you’re on a highway near a provincial border and some cherry lights pop up behind you, don’t think you can floor it and get away scott-free. If you’re being tailed by the RCMP, they can pull you over in Alberta just as easily as they can in B.C.

And that’s a good thing! :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

My wife and I got stuck in Toronto traffic just as she figured that she needed a rest break. About an hour later, we both needed to pee urgently, and just got to an exit. Unfortunately, we weren’t headed toward the businesses we saw to the north, but toward an apartment complex on the lakefront. We opted to find some tall grass on the shore and do our business.

So if Lake Ontario looks a little yellow, you’ll know why! :smiley: :smiley:

Sorry, being from the Soo (Sault Ste Marie for those that don’t know), I feel I have to comment…

Forests?! Sudbury?! Hahahahahahahahahahaha… Stop pretending that is true and go back to your lunar landscape living :wink:

Back to the OP… In all seriousness, Wolfie has it right about the way to travel. I HIGHLY recommend taking the 17 from Thunder Bay to the Soo. It is one of the most beautiful drives you will ever do. 400 miles or so of just pristine beauty. Well, if it is in the summer or fall anyway. The views and landscape of the north shore of Lake Superior are second to none.

Good luck in your travels!

Hey!

Or, put another way: “You don’t know what you’ve got 'til it’s gone”.

(For those who don’t know what’s going on, Sudbury is one of the world’s most important mining centres. Poor environmental practices in the first half of the twentieth century decimated the landscape. Since the seventies, though, a world-renowned land reclamation program carried out by government, citizens, and industry has made great strides in “regreening” the Sudbury region. It’s a ‘moonscape’ no more :slight_smile: )

There’s a web-page dedicated entirely to the Trans-Canada Highway, including trip planners and province-by-province info, which you may find helpful.

You people are awsome! Thanks for the info. It will be very usefull in planning the trip if it goes off.

If we do go, we hit Montreal for the F1, then head right to Indy for the next round. Good times…

On this section tlhere is a speed trap in Terrace Bay. His name is John.

Also on this section is the bridge on the edge of Nipigon, where if you have a breakdown you will block the only road connecting east and west in Canada.

http://my.tbaytel.net/culpeper/HalloweenintheDeadZone.html

Funny enough, I had never noticed this until a couple of years ago, but between the Soo and Wawa is the sign marking the official midpoint of the Trans Canada Higway. It is located by a waterfall just south of Batchewana Bay (where my amily’s camp is. (That’s cottage for you non Northern Ontario people).

I never thought that the midpoint would be seemingly so far East.

Gasoline has been averaging around 4.50 a gallon for the last several months in central ontario, depending on where you go , it can be even higher than that.

Speed limit is posted at 100 , but the lowest fine starts at 120 klicks. You will also find that drivers up here are no real different from the states , you can ramp onto a major highway at 30 and still be doing 30 ,cause some idiot won’t speed up, and then there is the hammer lane with drivers routinely doing between 130 to 210 klicks an hour, be aware of your surroundings.

No real blitzes start happening till the 2-4 weekend in may , and then it goes all summer , local municipalities that have their own police forces , have revenue generation blitzes when the mood strikes em.

Declan

Muffin, I enjoyed that story enough to link to it in my livejournal so it gets an audience. Thanks.