Canada

British Columbia Highway 5 — the Coquihalla Highway — has a reputation among commercial drivers that is earned every winter. The 315-kilometre corridor from Hope to Kamloops climbs to 1,244 metres (4,081 feet) at the Coquihalla Summit, receives some of the heaviest snowfall of any highway in Canada, and closes multiple times each winter for avalanche control or storm-related hazards.

It is also the most important freight artery between the Port of Vancouver and the BC Interior. When the Coquihalla shuts down, the supply chain for much of western Canada feels it.

There are dangerous roads, and then there is Alberta Highway 63.

For decades, the 465-kilometre corridor between Edmonton and Fort McMurray carried a grim distinction: one of the highest per-kilometre fatality rates of any Canadian highway. The road became so notorious that provincial politicians, safety advocates, and the families of accident victims campaigned for years under the banner of “Twinning 63” — arguing that the single-lane highway was a preventable killer.

Highway 401 through southern Ontario is, by vehicle count, the busiest highway in North America — and arguably the world. At its widest point through Toronto, the 401 carries over 400,000 vehicles per day across up to 18 lanes of traffic. For commercial truck drivers, this corridor is the backbone of Canadian freight: virtually all goods moving between Windsor (and the US border at Detroit), Toronto, Montreal, and the Maritime provinces travel this route.