Toronto, ON – Last week, in the north hall of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on opening day of the 2026 Canadian International Auto Show (CIAS), the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) showcased the latest evolution of Project Arrow, a spearhead of Canada’s bid to become a top leader in electric vehicle, from development to production to parts manufacturing.
The original Project Arrow SUV prototype introduced last year served as a rolling laboratory for Canadian innovation. This year, Project Arrow 2.0 has grown two heads with the unveiling of the Arrow Vector and the Arrow Borealis concepts.
The foundation: Project Arrow’s evolution
To understand the new concepts, one must recognize the significance of the original Project Arrow. Launched as a collaborative effort involving over 50 Canadian suppliers and post-secondary institutions (most prominently Ontario Tech University), the Project Arrow platform was designed to show that Canada could build an EV from the ground up without relying on foreign proprietary platforms.
At this year’s show, the APMA confirmed that the core architecture of Project Arrow has been refined. The 2026 iteration features improved battery thermal management systems designed specifically for the Canadian climate — technologies that have now found their way into the two new concept vehicles.
The Arrow Vector
The most immediate eye-catcher at the display was the Arrow Vector. While the original Arrow was a midsize SUV, the Vector is a compact, high-efficiency crossover. With its lightweight chassis made of aluminum and polymer, it delivers extraordinary power, with output set at 650 hp, range at up to 550 km from its battery (size not divulged for now).
Visually, the Vector is aerodynamic and minimalist, featuring a “monovolume” silhouette, where the hood and windshield form a single, continuous curve to minimize drag. The exterior lighting is integrated into the body panels using Canadian-developed translucent polymers, allowing the car to communicate with pedestrians through light patterns—a crucial feature for the future of autonomous city driving.
Inside, we find primarily recycled and bio-based materials sourced from across Ontario and Quebec, including hemp-based door panels and flax-fibre dash inserts.
The technology suite focuses on the "Arrow OS," a homegrown software stack that integrates biometric sensors in the seats to monitor driver fatigue and stress.
The Arrow Borealis
Where the Vector’s first goal is to represent “a near-term innovation platform engineered to demonstrate commercially scalable Canadian technologies,” as Project Arrow puts it, the Arrow Borealis sees itself as a research and design platform, on that explores “the long-range future of Canadian mobility and infrastructure integration.” It’s conceived as a fully autonomous (Level 5) vehicle, and the folks at Arrow talk of an astounding 1,500 km of range.
No mere design studies
Unlike many concepts shown by automakers that serve mainly as stylistic exercises, the Arrow Vector and Borealis are "shoppable" platforms for the Canadian parts industry.
Flavio Volpe, President of the APMA, emphasized during the Toronto unveiling that the vehicles are intended to be a menu for global automakers. Carmakers like Volkswagen, Stellantis and Honda, all of whom have recently made massive investments in Canadian EV battery production, can look at the software and cold-weather drivetrains present in these concepts and integrate those Canadian-made components into their future production models.
And know that the Vector and Borealis are expected to undergo real-world testing at the Lakeridge testing facility later this year, with the goal of validating the autonomous and cold-weather systems for global certification.
Economic impact and the path forward
The presence of Project Arrow at CIAS 2026 comes at a critical time. With the federal and provincial governments having committed billions to the EV supply chain, these concepts serve to justify those investments. They show that Canada is intent on being more than just an assembler of vehicles. The goal is to be a leading producer of new technologies and systems related to the electric vehicle sector.
Industry analysts at the show noted that the Project Arrow ecosystem has already generated hundreds of millions in new contracts for the participating Canadian suppliers.
The final word
We don’t know just where this project will ultimately lead Canada as it seeks to be a proactive force in the electrifying auto industry. While the Arrow Vector and Borealis concepts are clearly more evolved in terms of design and innovative, cold-weather-specific systems, we may never see "Arrow" dealerships in our landscapes. But if their innovations and Canadian-developed systems worm their way into major automakers’ electric products, that will represent success.
