Calgary has seen a dramatic shift in its daily commuting pattern away from the traditional suburb-to-city-centre model as more people both live and work in the suburbs, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

On the other hand, among Calgarians who both live and work in the inner city, many more of them are biking or walking, according to the report on commuting within Canada's largest cities released on Wednesday.

The report examined the commuting patterns in Canada's eight largest census metropolitan areas (CMAs): Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa–Gatineau, Edmonton, Québec and Winnipeg.

In Calgary, the proportion of within-city-core commuters declined from 22 per cent in 1996 to just nine per cent in 2016. All of the other big cities in the study also had declines in that category.

The study defined city core as areas located within five kilometres of the city centre.

During the same two-decade period, the proportion of suburban commuters in Calgary increased from 43 per cent to 56 per cent — the biggest growth in that category among the country's largest cities.

In 1996, 50.6 per cent of Calgary commuters had a primary place of work five kilometres or farther from the city centre. By 2016, that proportion had grown to 61.7 per cent.

The study found that an increasing number of commuters in all of those CMAs are working outside the city core, and that among commuters going from one suburb to another, car use was predominant in 2016, with little change since 1996.

Calgary also saw the biggest decrease in the proportion of workers whose residence is located within five kilometres of the city centre — down 16 per cent.

Calgary had the greatest increase in distance from place of work to city centre, by 1.8 km on average, the report said.

'Active' commute

However, the study also revealed that among workers who commute within the city core — from a suburb to the city core or from the city core to a suburb — an increasing number are using either public transit or active modes of transportation, such as biking or walking, to get to work.

In Calgary, the proportion of within city-core commuters choosing to bike or walk to walk rose from 15 per cent to 38 per cent in the two decades since 1996.

"In 2016, most people still used the car to go to work. However, car use is generally on the decline — principally among those working in the city core — as more and more people are using alternative modes of transportation such as public transit, walking and cycling to get to work," the study said.

"However, job growth is increasing outside the city core, with many commuters living and working in suburban areas who are less likely to use public transit or to use active modes of transportation to go to work. These findings have implications for the design strategies of CMAs and their efforts to decrease the reliance of suburban commuters on cars to get to work."