Among provinces and territories with published Q2 2026 registration estimates, Nova Scotia recorded about 1,653 new vehicle registrations per 100,000 residents. Quebec and New Brunswick followed at roughly 1,479 and 1,471. These are quarterly new-registration rates—not vehicle-ownership rates.
Direct answer: normalizing registrations by population changes the provincial comparison, but it does not reveal how many vehicles each resident owns or why demand differs. Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador are excluded because comparable Q2 registration estimates were unavailable in the source table.
Q2 2026 new registrations per 100,000 residents
| Geography | New registrations | Population | Per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nova Scotia | 18,026 | 1,090,852 | 1,652.5 |
| Quebec | 133,317 | 9,016,222 | 1,478.6 |
| New Brunswick | 12,742 | 866,497 | 1,470.5 |
| Yukon | 694 | 48,493 | 1,431.1 |
| Ontario | 208,445 | 16,103,890 | 1,294.4 |
| Saskatchewan | 15,813 | 1,266,092 | 1,249.0 |
| Prince Edward Island | 2,173 | 181,715 | 1,195.8 |
| Northwest Territories | 538 | 45,808 | 1,174.5 |
| British Columbia | 61,544 | 5,646,420 | 1,090.0 |
| Manitoba | 16,201 | 1,503,865 | 1,077.3 |
| Nunavut | 50 | 42,215 | 118.4 |
What the normalized comparison can show
A per-capita rate makes differently sized provinces easier to compare. Ontario had the largest published count, but ranked fifth on this population-adjusted measure. Nova Scotia’s smaller count represented the highest rate among available geographies.
The rate should not be read as a measure of household vehicle ownership. It covers new registrations during one quarter and may include business or fleet registrations. Population is used as a neutral denominator; it is not the population of licensed drivers or vehicle buyers.
Missing estimates matter
Statistics Canada did not publish comparable Q2 2026 totals for Alberta or Newfoundland and Labrador in this table. They are omitted rather than estimated. Nunavut’s result is based on only 50 registrations, so even a modest count change would materially move its rate.
For powertrain shares rather than population-normalized totals, see Motorz.ca’s Q2 2026 province and powertrain analysis. The two pages use the same registration source but own distinct analytical questions.
Methodology and limitations
- Selected all-fuel, all-vehicle Q2 2026 counts from Table 20-10-0025-01.
- Used April 1, 2026 population estimates from Table 17-10-0009-01.
- Formula: new registrations ÷ population × 100,000.
- Excluded geographies without a published comparable registration count.
- Counts are not seasonally adjusted and may be revised or randomly rounded.
Primary sources
- Statistics Canada Table 20-10-0025-01: New motor vehicle registrations
- Statistics Canada Table 17-10-0009-01: Population estimates, quarterly
Data accessed: September 11, 2026. Next review: after Q3 registration data. The hero is a conceptual Canadian driving scene and not evidence of the calculated rates.