The federal government is looking to collect data on every light-duty vehicle currently on Canada’s roads, plus all new vehicle registrations that happen in the future.
Natural Resources Canada issued an advance contract award notice on Tuesday morning for the creation of a “data collection system” that will be “required in the coming years (2018 to 2023) and will focus solely on vehicles in Canada.”
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There will be two databases, according to the department.
The first will be an inventory of all new vehicle registrations, broken down by year. It will contain detailed information about light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles, including brand, model, series, type of fuel, province of registration and “detailed information with respect to the motors.”
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The second database will be “a detailed inventory of all light-duty vehicles currently on the road,” identifying the registrations by brand, model, series, type of fuel, province of registration and, again, detailed information about the motor. A light-duty vehicle is classified as a vehicle weighing under 10,000 pounds.
“The data for ‘all vehicles on the road’ is needed to produce energy consumption estimates for the transportation sectors in Canada and the provinces,” explained a spokesperson for Natural Resources Canada.
As for the “new registrations,” that information is being gathered to analyse and track trends in the types of vehicles being purchased by Canadians, the spokesperson said.
“There are no concerns or issues pertaining to privacy as the data does not include any vehicle owner information such as names, addresses or other identifying information,” the department noted.
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The Office of Energy Efficiency at Natural Resources Canada is responsible for doing detailed reviews of the fuel consumption of vehicles in Canada, and the resulting impact on the country’s overall greenhouse gas emissions.
Canada has committed to a 30 per cent reduction in emissions levels (measured against 2005 levels) by 2030.
The government says it’s open to a formal bidding process for the database contract, but it has pre-identified DesRosiers Automotive Consultants in Richmond Hill, Ont., as “the only known supplier that meets the mandatory criteria.”
Founded in 1985, the company bills itself as “the only consulting and market research company in Canada that works exclusively in the automotive sector.”
The government says it will spend a maximum of $510,000 on the contract.