Trans-Canada

Trans-Canada

The Trans-Canada Highway (French: Route Transcanadienne) is a transcontinential federal-provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada between its Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean coasts to the west and east respectively. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km (4,990 mi). The system was approved by the Trans-Canada Highway Act of 1949, with construction commencing in 1950. The highway officially opened in 1962, and was completed in 1971. The highway system is recognizable by its distinctive white-on-green maple leaf route markers.

Throughout much of Canada, there are at least two routes designated as part of the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH). For example, in the western provinces, both the main Trans-Canada route and the Yellowhead Highway are part of the Trans-Canada system. Though the system does not enter either of Canada's three northern territories or provide a connection to the United States to the south, the Trans-Canada Highway forms part of Canada's overall national highway system that provides connections to both the Northwest Territories and Yukon as well as numerous connections to the United States.