Highway exit numbers

Highway exits in Canada are generally numbered based on the distance (in km) from the beginning of the highway. But what about before Canada went metric? Did all the exits have to be renumbered?

As it turns out, my assumption that distance-based exit numbering is not as widespread or as recent as I thought.

  • Ontario and Québec have exit numbering systems that predate metrication, but only barely, so the switch wasn’t too hard.
  • Newfoundland and Nova Scotia have sequential exit numbers, not distance-based ones.
  • Alberta didn’t post exit numbers at all until 2004!