The Trans Canada Trail is a vast network of recreational trails that spans 28,000 kilometers across Canada. ESI was hired to conduct an impact study examining the economic, environmental, and public health benefits of the Trans Canada Trail, as well as a set of 10 case studies looking at different segments of the trail network.
For the world’s largest recreational trail system, ESI developed a framework to estimate the economic, tourism, and community impacts of the 28,000-kilometer Trans Canada Trail. Given the size of the network, traditional survey data alone would have been insufficient. To address this, our team employed Propulso mobility (cell phone) data to estimate visitation patterns across hundreds of trail segments and grouped trails into typologies (e.g., urban connectors, rural loops, long-distance routes) to allow for scalable modeling of impacts. This creative, mixed-method approach provided a defensible picture of how visitation translated into local spending, jobs, and community benefits across diverse geographies.
ESI found that the Trans Canada Trail generated an annual economic impact of $23.1 billion, including $13 billion in user spending, $7 billion in annual earnings, and 221,500 jobs supported.
ESI found that the trail delivered $82 million in ecosystem benefits, including $14 million in gas and carbon sequestration and $42 million in stormwater management.
By providing Canadians with accessible and cost-effective opportunities to engage with physical activities, the trail has increased both physical and mental health. Because of access to the Trans Canada Trail, ESI estimated that 2.6 million adults are physical active, resulting in health care cost savings of $1.7 billion. Additionally, 1.6 million of those adults are workers, and the trail helps save $619 million in workplace absenteeism costs.