The Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, today announced that the Government of Canada is continuing its commitment to advance clean vehicle technologies and work with the automotive industry to make safe, clean and innovative transportation options available to Canadians.

"Our government is pleased to launch the next phase of the ecoTECHNOLOGY for Vehicles Program," said Minister Lebel. "This program will assess the safety and environmental performance of new vehicle technologies to ensure that innovations can be introduced in Canada in a safe and timely manner."

Over the next several years, the automotive industry will introduce a range of innovations to improve vehicle safety and to meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations.

The ecoTECHNOLOGY for Vehicles Program is a five-year, $38-million program that will proactively test advanced vehicle technologies to develop safety and environmental regulations, as well as industry codes and standards. Test results will help align vehicle regulations in North America to reduce and prevent barriers to cross-border trade, lowering costs for business and consumers, and supporting jobs and economic growth.

The program builds upon a successful predecessor program with the same name, which focused on testing environmental technologies for passenger cars. The new ecoTECHNOLOGY for Vehicles Program will expand testing activities to include heavy-duty trucks and a broader range of technologies.

Funding for the program was provided in Budget 2011 as part of a suite of Clean Transportation Initiatives under the renewal of the Government of Canada's Clean Air Agenda.

The Clean Transportation Initiatives focus on aligning Canadian regulations with those in the United States and with international standards, improving the efficiency of the transportation system and advancing clean technologies.

These initiatives will help Canada achieve its economy-wide target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent from 2005 levels by 2020.

For more information about the ecoTECHNOLOGY for Vehicles Program and test results from the predecessor program, please visit Transport Canada's website at www.tc.gc.ca/eTV.


_{As reported by the Goverment of Canada}