Canada's Main Street: The Epic Story of The Trans-Canada Highway

by Craig Baird

Much has been written about the Canadian Pacific Railway, the first major transportation network that bound Canada coast to coast, but almost nothing about The Trans-Canada Highway, even though more people use it regularly, it’s at least as vital to the nation’s business, and its story is every bit as fascinating as the CPR’s.



Prior to the Second World War, only an adventurer would have driven cross-country on Canada’s haphazard network of highways, gravel roads, single lanes paths, open fields, and ferries. An act of Parliament in 1949 kicked off the ambitious building of a modern two-lane coast-to-coast highway. Stretching from Victoria to St. John’s and winding through the diverse cultures, landscapes, and history of all ten provinces, the Trans-Canada opened in 1960 and has been a centerpiece of the Canadian experience ever since—the route of countless road trips, holidays, migrations, and, of course, Terry Fox’s magnificent Marathon of Hope.



Now, for the first time, Craig Baird, host of Canadian History Ehx, the number one history podcast in Canada, tells the epic story of the Trans-Canada from conception to completion. Canada’s Main Street is an absorbing tale of the political intrigue, budgetary disasters, and heroic innovation that created our 7000-kilometre national lifeline.

Genres: Canada, Nonfiction, History

240 pages, Hardcover

Published May 13, 2025

Reviews

[Lorrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history of the Trans-Canada highway, delving into the beginnings of automobile usage which led to the need for paved roads. Easy to read, told in a very conversational tone.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, important and entertaining. A must read for all Canadians!

[Don Bennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple.straight forward story with logical conclusions and connections.

[Tim Hulleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun history of not just the road but the country’s history. This first edition is in need of some editing though, with a weird amount of typos and errors.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting, although not exactly exciting read. I knew very little about the trans Canada highway background and the author really does a good job of giving us the full history. He goes from province to province and talks about the highs and the lows. How many decades it took for completion. He also talks about how it affected different communities- ones that were on the highway and ones that were left out of that path. If you’re wanting to read a book that goes into more of Canadian history, but don’t want to read about the infamous railway. This one might be a good one for you.

[Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, fact-filled, entertaining book written in an almost conversational tone. Gives additional insight into the beginnings of auto usage in Canada.

[Alissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - the amount of errors and typos makes it unreadable