Road freight is a key component of the Canadian economy, with an estimated 90% of freight shipments in Canada being hauled by truck. It is also one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions with medium and heavy-duty vehicles, accounting for 37% of Canada's transportation emissions and 9% of Canada's total emissions.
Given the importance of this sector, the Government of Canada announced the Zero-Emission Trucking Program (ZETP) as part of a suite of initiatives announced in the March 2022 Emissions Reduction Plan. The ZETP will contribute to accelerating the safe deployment of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicles (MHZEV) on Canadian roads. To achieve this mandate, the ZETP was allocated $75.8 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to implement the following program activities:
- Supporting provinces and territories with funding to develop, modernize, and align codes, standards and regulations for zero-emission trucking.
- Supporting heavy-duty zero-emission vehicle deployments to evaluate the technology in Canadian conditions, share best practices, and accelerate readiness.
- Addressing data and knowledge gaps to remove barriers to the introduction of zero-emission trucks in the Canadian marketplace.
- Investing in facility upgrades at the Motor Vehicle Test Centre to increase MHZEV testing capabilities.
- Undertaking MHZEV safety research to validate MHZEV crashworthiness performance and inform the development of new safety requirements, as needed.
If you have questions or would like to reach out to find out more about program activities, please contact us at: ZETProgram-ProgrammeCZE@tc.gc.ca
Program Activities – Past and Upcoming:
- Provincial and Territorial engagement on call for proposal design (Autumn 2022).
- Zero-Emission Trucking Workshop #1: Technology Readiness (September 2022).
- Zero-Emission Trucking Workshop #2: Operational Readiness (December 2022).
- Zero-Emission Trucking Workshop #3: Infrastructure Readiness (February 2023).
- Provincial and Territorial Call for Proposals: Accelerating Regulatory Readiness and Alignment for Zero-Emission Trucking (January 2023).
Transport Canada's Innovation Centre
If you are interested in learning more about research and innovation taking place at Transport Canada across all modes of transportation, please visit this page containing information on Transport Canada's Innovation Centre and its ongoing programming.
Incentives for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicles Program (iMHZEV)
This page contains details on available federal purchase and lease incentives for medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles.
Zero-emission vehicle charging stations
Canada already has thousands of ZEV charging and re-fuelling stations and the number of new locations continues to grow. Find out how Natural Resources Canada's Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program is helping to make your ZEV journey hassle-free.
Greening Freight Programs
This page contains training, tools and resources to help Canadian fleets lower their fuel consumption, operating costs and vehicle emissions.