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Department of Transport (Canada) - Definition and Overview |
| Related Words: Area, Arena, Bailiwick, Beat, Belt, Border, Borderland, Branch, Bureau, Circle, Circuit, Commissariat, Concern, Constabulary, Control, Corridor, Country, Demesne, Discipline, District, Division, Domain |
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The Department of Transport, also referred to as Transport Canada, is the department within the government of Canada which is responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of transportation in Canada.
The Department of Transport was created in 1935 by the government of Mackenzie King in recognition of the changing transportation environment in Canada. It merged two historic departments the former Department of Railways and Canals (Canada) and the Department of Marine (Canada) under one dynamic minister Clarence Decatur Howe who would use the portfolio to rationalize the governance and provision of all forms of transportation (air, water and land). He created a National Harbours Board and Trans-Canada Airlines. The Department of Transport Act came into force November 2, 1936.
Prior to a 1994 federal government reorganization, Transport Canada had a wide range of responsibilities including the Canadian Coast Guard, the St. Lawrence Seaway, airports and seaports, as well as VIA Rail. Significant cuts to Transport Canada resulted in the coast guard being transferred to Fisheries and Oceans and the seaway and various ports and airports being transferred to local operating authorities. Today Transport Canada is largely a policy and regulatory organization.
Transport Canada is responsible for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada which investigates accidents involving the marine, air, and rail industries.
The current Minister of Transport is the Honourable Jean Lapierre.
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