Canada has experience with both vehicle and technology development
A collaboration is already underway between Maga International and the University of Waterloo
Canada will face challenges since no automaker has major development centers in the country
Things are moving fast in the current automotive industry, with every automaker hard at work to develop electric cars and autonomous vehicles. This climate of industry changes is welcoming to new players who want to enter the market.
The governments of Canada and the province of Ontario, where most automotive related companies are located in the country, want to increase their place in the industry and become major players, notably in the autonomous driving sector.
A program is already in place at the University of Waterloo where engineering students are working to improve the safety and cybersecurity of self-driving vehicles. This program is part of a $1.6 million partnership between the university and Magna International, a major parts supplier that works with most automakers.
Canada could be a good candidate to become a hub for self-driving technology because the country benefits from lots of experience in the automotive manufacturing sector and its has a large pool of engineers and technology development specialists to work on new systems to be used in cars.
On the other hand, Canada will face a lot of hurdles on its way to success because the current tendency in the auto industry is to have suppliers and technology companies relocate to be closer to major automaker’s headquarters and research center, both elements that are lacking in Canada. Indeed, a concentration of smaller compagnies has begun to move out of countries where there were car manufacturing operations but no development centers, such as Canada, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
