Regulations for trucks, buses, and large vehicles cut pollution, improve air quality, and boost competitiveness

The Government of Canada is delivering on its promise to fight climate change, reduce pollution, and make investments to improve the health of communities while growing the economy.

The Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, announced new carbon-pollution regulations for heavy-duty vehicles, starting in 2020, and the regulations will become increasingly stringent in the years ahead. By reducing emissions from school buses, transport tractors and trailers, garbage trucks, delivery vans, and larger pick-up trucks, these regulations will make our air cleaner and our communities healthier while helping transportation companies save money. The regulations will promote clean innovation and support good middle-class jobs.

The regulations will also reduce trucking costs for moving goods in Canada, helping the transportation sector become more competitive by saving new vehicle owners approximately $1.7 billion in fuel costs annually, by 2030, and by reducing the cost of transporting goods and materials to customers in Canada and in international markets. The approach will keep Canada globally competitive while protecting the environment.

In Canada, carbon pollution from heavy-duty vehicles has almost tripled since 1990. Today, it is comparable to emissions from coal-fired electricity. These regulations will decrease the growth of carbon pollution from this part of our transportation sector.

Reducing pollution from heavy-duty vehicles is also an important part of Canada’s clean-growth and climate action plan. The new standards for heavy-duty vehicles will reduce carbon pollution by approximately 6 million tonnes a year by 2030, which is comparable to taking about 1.5 million passenger vehicles off the road for one year.

Canada’s regulations are designed to promote innovation and provide flexibility to industry to choose the most cost-effective compliance options. Heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers will have the flexibility to choose the clean technologies that will increase their fuel efficiency and reduce emissions and operating costs.

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