Canada strives to reduce vehicle emissions

BOUCHERVILLE, Quebec — Canada’s environmental minister, Peter Kent, proposed regulations earlier this month to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new on-road heavy-duty vehicles.

The proposed regulations would allow the Canadian government to continue establishing emission standards and test procedures that are aligned with those of the U.S. The regulations are designed to reduce emissions from large pickup trucks, short/long-haul tractors, cement and garbage trucks, buses and more, for the 2014 model year and beyond.

Canada has already worked closely with the U.S. to establish common North American standards for greenhouse gas emissions regulations for light-duty vehicles for the 2011-16 model years, and is working toward proposed regulations for model years 2017 and beyond.

"Canada and the United States have a deeply integrated automotive industry, and there are significant environmental and economic benefits to aligning our emission standards for new on-road heavy-duty vehicles," Kent said. "Today's announcement means that, by the year 2020, greenhouse gas emissions from Canada's heavy-duty vehicles will be reduced by 3 million tonnes per year. This is equivalent to removing 650,000 personal vehicles from the road."

As a result of implementing the proposed standards, it is anticipated that greenhouse gas emissions from 2018 heavy-duty vehicles will be reduced by up to 23 percent from those sold in 2010.

Officials said that reducing emissions from the transportation sector is an important part of the Canadian government's overall climate change strategy, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.

To view the proposed on-road heavy-duty vehicle regulations, click here.