The Trans-Labrador Highway (TLH) is the primary public road in

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

, the mainland portion of the province of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

, Canada. The highway's total length is . The paving of the entire highway was completed in July 2022. The original western/central portion of the TLH is designated as Route 500 and measures divided as follows: *

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

boundary to

Labrador City Labrador City is a town in western Labrador (part of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador), near the Quebec border. With a population of 7,412 as of 2021, it is the second-largest population cent ...

Wabush Wabush is a small town in the western tip of Labrador, bordering Quebec, known for transportation and iron ore operations. Economy Wabush is the twin community of Labrador City. At its peak population in the late 1970s, the region had a populati ...

(, asphalt surface) *

to Churchill Falls (, asphalt surface) * Churchill Falls to Happy Valley-Goose Bay (, asphalt surface) Heading southeast is Route 510, the north portion of the TLH that has been designated Labrador Coastal Drive and measures divided as follows: * Happy Valley-Goose Bay to Cartwright Junction ( asphalt, gravel, the remainder was paved in 2022 * Cartwright Junction to Port Hope Simpson (, asphalt surface) * Port Hope Simpson to Mary's Harbour (, asphalt surface) * Mary's Harbour to Lodge Bay (, asphalt surface) * Lodge Bay to Red Bay (, asphalt surface) * Red Bay to

boundary via Blanc-Sablon (, asphalt surface) The TLH runs through dense

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...

for most of its length with no roadside services between communities. Route 500 connects with Quebec Route 389, which runs through wilderness north from

Baie-Comeau Baie-Comeau () is a city in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, and is the seat of Manicouagan Regional County Municipality. It is near the mouth of the Manicouagan Ri ...

to the Quebec - Labrador boundary. Cell phone reception along the Trans-Labrador Highway is limited. In the 2020 budget, the provincial government allocated $200,000 for a pre-feasibility study for a road to connect the north coast of Labrador to the Trans-Labrador Highway.

Construction and development

Phase I, upgrading Labrador West to Happy Valley-Goose Bay

The original TLH from Labrador West (Labrador City/Wabush) to Happy Valley-Goose Bay was completed in 1992.History of Labrador City
, ''LabradorWest.com'', Retrieved February 7, 2011 Some sections were poorly built or in need of upgrades due to increased traffic use, particularly the section between Churchill Falls and Happy Valley-Goose Bay. In the summer of 1999, $60 million was allocated to upgrade the highway as part of the "Labrador Transportation Initiative". The Phase I section of the TLH began undergoing paving operations in 2009; by October 2011, a stretch of approximately leading east from Labrador West had been paved, as well approximately heading west from Goose Bay towards Churchill Falls. The entire Phase I section of the TLH was completed in 2015.

Route 510

In 1997, the

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is the provincial government of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was established by the Newfoundland Act and its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867. Role of ...

committed to building an extension of the TLH, connecting Happy Valley-Goose Bay with an existing isolated road network serving coastal communities on the

Strait of Belle Isle The Strait of Belle Isle ( ; ) is a waterway in eastern Canada, that separates Labrador from the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Location The strait is located in the southeast of the ...

. The impetus for this project was the federal government's desire to cut costs and remove itself from subsidizing coastal

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

service to Labrador outports which was being provided by the federal

Crown corporation Crown corporation () is the term used in Canada for organizations that are structured like private companies, but are directly and wholly owned by the government. Crown corporations have a long-standing presence in the country, and have a sign ...

Marine Atlantic Marine Atlantic Inc. () is an independent Canadian federal Crown corporation which is mandated to operate ferry services between the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia. Marine Atlantic's corporate headquarters are in St. John ...

. These federal cuts were completed in 1997, under the moniker Labrador Transportation Initiative, when an agreement was signed which saw the federal government transfer ownership and operation of two ferry vessels, along with C$340 million for extending Labrador's road network. A key component to this plan was $150 million to upgrade coastal Labrador marine services, including a newer high-capacity ferry for the St. Barbe- Blanc Sablon service across the

Phase II, Red Bay to Cartwright Junction

Phase II of new construction, costing $130 million, began in 1999 and saw Route 510 extended over four years from its terminus in Red Bay northeast to the port of Cartwright. This section was paved as far as Cartwright Junction, the unpaved remainder (to Cartwright) being designated Highway 516.

Phase III, Cartwright Junction to Happy Valley-Goose Bay

Phase III is a section of Route 510 built for $130 million south of

Lake Melville Lake Melville is an estuary of Hamilton Inlet (itself an extension of Groswater Bay) on the Labrador coast of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Comprising and stretching inland to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, it forms part of the ...

Hamilton Inlet __NOTOC__ Hamilton Inlet is a fjord-like inlet of Groswater Bay on the Labrador coast of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Together with Lake Melville, it forms its province's largest estuary, extending over inland to Happy V ...

to connect Cartwright Junction ( south west of Cartwright) with Happy Valley-Goose Bay, completed sufficiently to open to traffic as a gravel road on 16 December 2009. During 2010, two permanent bridges, road surface work, signage, and guardrails were completed at a cost of $15 million. The road was then paved except for from Cartwright Junction westward to Paradise Heights (the divide between the basins of the Paradise River and the Eagle River). The remainder was completed in July 2022.

Route 516 and supplementary routes

Phase II involved completion of highway north to Cartwright from Red Bay, and was opened in 2002. Although the entire route was initially designated as Route 510, upon completion of Phase III, the northern from Cartwright Junction (to Cartwright) was designated as Route 516. Phase II also included other branch routes: * Route 513 to St. Lewis * Route 514 to Charlottetown and Pinsent Arm A segment of

Quebec Route 138 Route 138 is a major highway in the Canadian province of Quebec, following the entire north shore of the St. Lawrence River past Montreal to the temporary eastern terminus in Kegashka on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The western terminus is in E ...

extends from Old Fort, Quebec to the

border connecting with Route 510 near Blanc-Sablon on the eastern end of the Côte-Nord. A gap remains between Kegashka and Old Fort, through isolated communities accessible only by coastal ferry. On August 25, 2006, the Quebec government announced a 10-year project to connect the two segments by building 425 km of highway along the Lower North Shore. As of 2022, the highway has not been completed.