

Canadian manufacturers produce vehicles for major public transportation systems, national rail networks and specialized applications such as mining. In addition to light vehicles, Canada has expertise in commercial equipment and public transportation manufacturing. Hydrogen fuel cell R&D has spawned a cluster of homegrown companies like Hydrogenics and Ballard Power Systems, and attracted R&D investments from global OEMs. Jeffrey Dahn’s lithium-ion energy density research has led to an exclusive research partnership with Tesla Motors, and drivetrain manufacturer TM4’s electric motors are powering light and heavy vehicles. Companies across Canada are helping shape these technologies. Canadian companies also have the expertise to keep that data secure.Īdvancements in alternative powertrains are ensuring the cars of the future will be cleaner and greener. Canada has the expertise to analyze the big data that connected vehicles are already starting to produce, with clusters of academic and commercial quantum computing R&D, Canadian companies are working with global OEMs to process massive volumes of data and optimize the performance of entire networks of vehicles. AI pioneers Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio and Richard Sutton advanced the discipline in Canada, and their work helped lay the foundation for autonomous vehicles.Īs connected and autonomous vehicles increasingly become reality, managing data from vehicles is an important element of safe and reliable transportation. Growth in Canada’s vibrant tech industry is increasingly driven by clusters of expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) including machine learning, deep learning, neural networks and computer vision. Canada’s expertise in emerging technologies is attracting major investments in autonomous and connected vehicle research from global OEMs such as GM and Ford and tech giants like Uber, Google and Nvidia. The industry directly employs more than 117,200 people, with an additional 371,400 people in aftermarket services and dealership networks in 2020.Ĭanadian companies are leading the way in developing transformative automotive technologies. With a $12.5 billion contribution to GDP in 2020, it is one of Canada’s largest manufacturing sectors. The sector plays a key role in Canada’s economy. It’s been building vehicles for over a century, and has a proud legacy of high quality auto manufacturing. Canada is home to one of only five machine-tool-die-and-mould (MTDM) making clusters in the world. Their plants are supplied by a vibrant ecosystem of nearly 700 parts suppliers, including homegrown Tier 1 companies like Magna, Linamar and Martinrea. Five global OEMs assemble more than 1.4 million vehicles at their Canadian plants each year: Stellantis, Ford, GM, Honda and Toyota. Canada is one of the world’s top 12 producers of light vehicles.

Canada’s automotive industry is centered in the heart of North America’s largest vehicle producing region: the Great Lakes automotive manufacturing cluster.
