Car shipping in Montreal, Quebec runs most often on six lanes: Toronto (546 km, 1–2 days), Halifax (1,253 km, 2–4 days), St. John's (2,139 km, 5–9 days), Calgary (3,524 km, 6–11 days), Edmonton (3,589 km, 7–12 days), and Vancouver (4,558 km, 8–14 days). Red Foot Haulers is a Canadian carrier network moving vehicles on these and other domestic routes out of Montreal.
Car Shipping in Montreal
Montreal is Quebec's largest city and one of the busiest origin and destination points for domestic vehicle transport in the country, sitting at the crossroads of Highway 20, the 401 corridor east, and the routes running north into the rest of the province and Atlantic Canada. Most of what we move out of Montreal goes to Toronto, Halifax, St. John's, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver, with transit times ranging from as little as a day on the short Toronto run to close to two weeks on the cross-country haul to Vancouver.
Red Foot Haulers operates a network of Canadian carriers and does not run vehicles across the Canada–US border. Every quote, pickup, and delivery discussed on this page is domestic. For the broader national picture beyond Montreal's own lanes, see our car shipping Canada hub, which covers the full carrier network and how interprovincial transport works end to end.
Lanes We Run From Montreal
The table below lists the routes we run most frequently out of Montreal, with the exact driving distance and the typical transit window for each. These are the lanes with the most regular carrier traffic, not the only lanes available — if your destination isn't listed, it's still shippable, and a carrier can usually be sourced for it within a comparable timeframe adjusted for distance.
| Destination | Distance from Montreal | Typical Transit Time |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto, ON | 546 km | 1–2 days |
| Halifax, NS | 1,253 km | 2–4 days |
| St. John's, NL | 2,139 km | 5–9 days |
| Calgary, AB | 3,524 km | 6–11 days |
| Edmonton, AB | 3,589 km | 7–12 days |
| Vancouver, BC | 4,558 km | 8–14 days |
Anything east of Montreal into the rest of Atlantic Canada follows a similar pattern to the Halifax and St. John's runs — see our Maritimes car shipping page for the wider regional picture if your destination is a smaller Maritime centre rather than one of the two hubs above.
Open vs Enclosed Transport
The large majority of vehicles shipping out of Montreal go on open transport, and for most cars, trucks, and SUVs that is entirely appropriate — it's the same type of equipment used to move new vehicles from factory to dealership, and it's built for exactly this. Enclosed car shipping exists for a smaller category of vehicle where weather and road debris exposure genuinely matter enough to justify it, not as a default upgrade.
| Factor | Open Transport | Enclosed Transport |
|---|---|---|
| Weather & road debris exposure | Full exposure to rain, snow, road salt, and debris kicked up from the highway | Fully enclosed — no weather or debris exposure |
| Vehicles per load | Typically 7–10 vehicles per multi-car carrier | Typically 1–2 vehicles per trailer |
| Availability on Montreal lanes | High — the standard equipment on every lane listed above | Limited — fewer trailers running, longer lead time to book |
| Best suited to | Everyday sedans, SUVs, trucks, and most personal vehicles | Classics, exotics, low-clearance sports cars, freshly restored vehicles, high-value cars |
The one honest Montreal-specific argument for enclosed transport is winter road salt: a vehicle moving through Quebec in January or February on an open deck is riding behind trucks kicking up salted slush for the entire trip, which matters a lot more for a freshly restored or high-value car than for a daily driver.
What Your Quote Depends On
We don't publish a flat per-kilometre rate because car transport pricing isn't actually flat — it moves with several independent factors, and a quote built without accounting for all of them is a quote that gets revised later. Here's what moves the number, and in which direction.
| Factor | Effect on Price |
|---|---|
| Distance & distance tier | Longer hauls cost more in total but less per kilometre — a Vancouver run at 4,558 km is far more efficient per-km than a short hop, since fixed costs like loading and positioning are spread over more distance. |
| Open vs enclosed | Enclosed raises the price meaningfully because a trailer that carries 1–2 vehicles instead of 7–10 has to recover the same trip cost from far fewer cars. |
| Vehicle size, weight & ground clearance | Larger, heavier vehicles take up more deck space and can limit how many other vehicles fit on the same load, pushing the price up. Low ground clearance may also restrict which carrier equipment can be used safely. |
| Whether it runs, rolls & steers | A non-running vehicle needs a winch-equipped carrier and takes longer to load, which raises cost. See non-running car shipping for how that's handled. |
| Season & weather | Winter in Quebec adds scheduling friction — snow-clearing operations and parking bans can delay loading — which tends to push prices up during peak winter weeks and again during the spring/fall snowbird surge. |
| Pickup window flexibility | A flexible date lets a carrier slot your vehicle into a route they're already running; a rigid, fixed date may mean paying for a dedicated trip or a less efficient route. |
| Distance from a main highway | An address well off the highway network, deep in narrow streets or a rural back road, adds time and sometimes requires a smaller relay vehicle, which adds cost. |
| How established the lane is | A regularly-run lane like Montreal–Toronto has trucks already going that direction, which keeps pricing competitive; a rarely-run lane may cost more since a carrier has to be sourced specifically. |
For a Montreal shipment specifically, the three factors that usually dominate are distance tier, open vs enclosed, and season — the on-island pickup logistics and winter parking bans discussed below feed directly into that last one.
Pickup and Delivery in Montreal
The island itself is the main constraint on Montreal pickups and deliveries. A full-size car carrier is long, tall, and cannot easily navigate the narrow streets of the Plateau, Mile End, or the older parts of downtown, and bridge and tunnel routing onto and off the island adds further limits on where a rig can realistically go. In practice, this means a lot of Montreal shipments involve meeting the driver at a nearby plaza, big-box parking lot, or arterial road rather than at the front door — this is standard practice here, not a sign that anything has gone wrong. Off-island meeting points in Laval, Longueuil, or the West Island are common and generally make loading faster and safer for everyone.
Winter adds a second, very real scheduling factor. From roughly December through March, Montreal's municipal snow-clearing operations impose temporary parking bans on many streets, sometimes with only a few hours' notice. A carrier cannot legally or safely load a vehicle on a street mid-snow-clearing operation, so pickups during active removal windows need to be rescheduled or shifted to an alternate location. Booking with some flexibility in your pickup date during winter months avoids most of this friction entirely.
On the positive side, the Toronto lane out of Montreal is short and heavily travelled — 546 km along Highway 20 and the 401 — which makes it one of the easiest and most reliably scheduled routes in the entire country, typically moving in 1–2 days with strong carrier availability year-round.
Timing Your Shipment: Seasons in Montreal
Quebec winters are the single biggest scheduling variable for shipments out of Montreal. Heavy snowfall slows highway travel on longer lanes, municipal snow-removal operations trigger the parking bans described above, and road salt is applied liberally and often. That salt exposure is the most honest, Montreal-specific case for choosing enclosed car shipping over open transport during the winter months — a freshly restored, classic, or high-value vehicle riding an open deck through a Quebec February is genuinely exposed to salt spray for the length of the trip in a way it wouldn't be in most other seasons or regions.
There's also a seasonal snowbird pattern worth planning around. In late autumn, capacity on southbound and long-haul lanes tightens as vehicles move ahead of winter weather, and the same happens in reverse in early spring as vehicles head back north. Booking a week or two ahead of these windows, rather than trying to move during the peak of the rush, generally gets a vehicle on a carrier faster and with more schedule flexibility.
Preparing Your Vehicle for Pickup
A little preparation avoids most delays and disputes at pickup. Before the driver arrives:
- Leave roughly a quarter tank of fuel — enough to load and unload the vehicle under its own power, without adding unnecessary weight to the load.
- Remove toll transponders (Espace and similar) so they don't rack up tolls in transit, and clear out all personal belongings.
- Disable any aftermarket alarm system so it doesn't trigger during loading, transport, or unloading.
- Photograph the vehicle from every angle in good light, with a timestamp, documenting any existing scratches, dents, or wear before the driver arrives.
- Fold in or remove aftermarket spoilers, roof racks, and anything else that increases the vehicle's overall height or width beyond stock.
- Write down any starting quirks — a finicky ignition, a battery that needs a jump, a temperamental key fob — so the driver knows what to expect.
- Confirm all four tires hold air and that the parking brake releases cleanly; a vehicle that can't be rolled or steered onto the carrier needs to be flagged as non-running in advance.
The condition report the driver fills out at pickup is the document any later damage claim gets measured against, so it's worth walking the vehicle together and agreeing on its contents — noting every existing mark — before it's loaded onto the carrier. A rushed or skipped walkaround at pickup is the single most common reason a legitimate claim becomes hard to settle later.
Other Popular Routes
Beyond the Montreal lanes above, our Halifax car shipping and Maritimes car shipping pages cover the eastern corridor in more detail, and our Montreal to St. John's page walks through the ferry-inclusive logistics of that specific run. If you're shipping something other than a car or truck — a travel trailer or motorhome, for example — our RV shipping page covers that separately.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest way to ship a car within Canada?
Open transport on a multi-vehicle carrier, booked with a flexible pickup window, on a lane carriers already run regularly. Those three together do most of the work: enclosed trailers carry a fraction of the vehicles per load, a rigid pickup date means a carrier may run with an empty slot, and an established lane is one where the truck is already going. Terminal-to-terminal instead of door-to-door helps where a terminal is genuinely convenient to you.
Do you offer door-to-door pickup and delivery in Montreal?
Yes, wherever the truck can legally and safely get to. Car carriers are long and heavy, so a narrow residential street, a low-clearance underground garage, or a tight cul-de-sac may mean meeting at a nearby plaza or arterial road instead. The driver calls ahead to sort this out, and it is normal rather than a sign of a problem.
How long does it take to ship a car from Montreal to Toronto?
Typically 1–2 days for the 546 km run along Highway 20 and the 401. It is one of the busiest lanes in the country, so carrier availability is good and it generally schedules faster than longer routes.
Can a car carrier pick up on the island of Montreal?
Sometimes, depending on the street. Bridge and tunnel routing plus narrow streets in the Plateau and the older boroughs put a lot of addresses out of reach for a full-size carrier, and winter parking bans remove the rest during snow-clearing. Meeting off-island in Laval, Longueuil, or the West Island is common and does not change the service.
Can you ship a car that does not run?
Yes. A non-running vehicle needs a carrier with a winch and takes a loading slot that a driveable car would not, so it has to be arranged deliberately rather than added at the last minute. Tell us at booking whether it rolls, steers, and brakes — those three determine what equipment the driver brings, and a vehicle that does none of them needs different handling entirely.
Is my car insured while it is being transported?
Yes. Every vehicle moves under the carrier's cargo insurance for the whole trip. Ask for the certificate and check the per-vehicle limit against what your car is actually worth — that matters most for enclosed loads, which is usually where the higher-value vehicles are. Your own policy generally still covers the vehicle as an owned asset, but not the carrier's handling of it, so the two are not interchangeable.
Can I leave personal belongings in the car?
Keep it to nothing, or close to it. Carrier cargo insurance covers the vehicle, not the contents, so anything inside travels at your own risk. Loose items also add weight and can move around and damage the interior in transit. If something must travel, keep it light, in the trunk, and out of sight, and accept that it is not covered.
Can Red Foot Haulers ship my car to or from the United States?
No — Red Foot Haulers ships within Canada only. Bringing a vehicle in from the US involves customs clearance, Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV) registration, and a federal inspection, all of which sit outside domestic transport. Contact the CBSA or RIV directly for that process.