Canadian cities have seen resurgence in recent years as living downtown has become popular. Condominiums in city centres continue to attract everyone from first-time buyers to downsizing seniors.

Yet one look at the packed roads leading into the city shows that suburban living is not dead. Improving the infrastructure for overloaded roads and public transit is a hot topic across the country. Until the roads, rails and bike lanes are improved, the daily commute continues to be the worst part of the day for many people.

A recent study by Erica Sandow of Umea University in Sweden says that if you commute more than 45 minutes to work, you’re more likely to get a divorce than people who have shorter commutes.

Several studies have blamed the daily commute for health issues. "Each additional hour spent in a car per day was associated with a six per cent increase in the likelihood of obesity," says a 2004 paper by Lawrence Frank, from the School of Community and Regional Planning, University of British Columbia, who wrote the paper with colleagues Marten Andresen and Thomas Schmid. "Conversely, each additional kilometre walked per day was associated with a 4.8-per-cent reduction in the likelihood of obesity."

A more recent U.S. study says that long commutes promote a sedentary lifestyle - the further you have to drive to work, the less likely you are to exercise.

"Other studies on long passive commuting have shown short-term negative health effects such as stress, fatigue, sleep disturbances, low self-rated health and wellbeing, work/family conflict and increased sick absences," says Dr. James Aw, medical director of the Medcan Clinic in Toronto, writing in the National Post. "Suburbs might be better for families, if you simply consider the kids’ needs in a vacuum. But what about adult needs? Are the suburbs so great for families if they’re killing the adults who live there?"

Statistics Canada reports that in 2011, Canadian commuters spent an average of 25.4 minutes travelling to work - almost the same as the U.S. average, which was 25.5 minutes.

The Toronto area had the longest commute times at 32.8 minutes. This is close to the average in the New York/Northern New Jersey/Long Island area, which took 34.7 minutes.

After Toronto, the longest Canadian commute times were Oshawa, Ont. at 31.8 minutes, Montreal at 29.7 minutes, Barrie, Ont. at 29.6 minutes, Vancouver at 28.4 minutes, Calgary at 27 minutes, Abbotsford, B.C. at 26.7 minutes and Edmonton at 25.6 minutes. The city with the shortest commute in the survey was Saguenay, Que. at 16.9 minutes.

Statistics Canada says that the averages "do not reflect the experience of all commuters. For some, travel times are considerably longer. In Canada, 17.2 per cent of commuters usually took 45 minutes or more to get to work." Not surprising, those who work in the Toronto area were the largest percentage of this group.

Across the country, those who used a private vehicle took an average of 23.7 minutes to get to work, while bus riders took 40.6 minutes, subway riders took 44.6 minutes and those who commute on streetcars, light rail or commuter train took 52.5 minutes. People who walked to work took an average of 12.7 minutes, while cyclists took 20 minutes.

About 15.4 million Canadians commute to work each day, while about 1.1 million work at home. Four out of five people used a private vehicle to get to work. Seventy-four per cent of commuters drove their own vehicle and 5.6 per cent were passengers.

Only 12 per cent of all Canadian commuters used public transit for the largest part of their trip in 2011 - up one per cent from the 2006 census results.

Of public transit users, 63 per cent travelled by bus, 25 per cent by subway or elevated rail, 11.2 per cent by light rail, streetcar or commuter train and 0.3 per cent by ferry.

Just 5.7 per cent of commuters, or 880,800, walked to work and 201,800 (1.3 per cent) cycled. The city with the largest percentage of "active transportation" - walking or cycling - was Victoria, B.C., where 10 per cent of commuters walked and 5.9 per cent cycled to work. Other cities that had a higher proportion of walkers were Kingston, Ont. and Halifax.

The cities with the highest proportion of private vehicle users were Saguenay, Que., Brantford, Ont. and Trois-Rivieres, Que.

Just over 29 per cent of commuters leave for work between 7 am and 8 am; about 22 per cent leave between 8 am and 9 am. Statistics Canada says 6.4 per cent of commuters are early-birds, leaving home between 5 am and 6 am, and 18 per cent leave between 6 am and 7 am.