Key Research Areas in the Canadian Automotive Industry

Technology is transforming Canada's auto sector as firms fight for highly skilled personnel to support future R&D activities.

FREMONT, CA: General Motors requires active safety and driver-assistance technology specialists. For instance, Ford is seeking software developers for its rapidly expanding architecture for car analytics. Apple needs software developers with excellent problem-solving and debugging skills for its covert work on self-driving systems. Apple is not a company in the auto sector. Smaller technology companies that have entered the transportation industry play crucial roles in the auto industry's only growth area.

The Detroit Three are the most conspicuous players in the tech transition, even though their research and development employment pales compared to production-line layoffs as car production in Canada continues to decline. These startups and the public and private networks that support them, like Canada's tech-heavy universities, have attracted the attention of automakers seeking talent and new ideas. 

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Toronto has an incredible ecosystem of numerous startups, incubators, and accelerators. Along the 100-kilometer corridor from Toronto, Ontario, to Waterloo, Ontario, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity are significant areas of automotive-related study at universities and businesses. Canada's auto-technology breakthroughs go beyond artificial intelligence and cyber protection:

Fuel cells: With the opening up of Canada's first public hydrogen refueling station in Vancouver and the introduction of the Toyota Mirai for fleet sales, development for fuel cell vehicles has been modest but significant. Vancouver is at the forefront of fuel cell development due to decades of research by Ballard Power Systems and institutions in British Columbia. 

Lightweighting: The McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and National Research Council pioneered what has been described as a significant Canadian contribution to the quest for innovative materials and manufacturing processes to lower the weight of more complicated automobiles.

Batteries: Numerous lithium-ion batteries today rely on technology created by Hydro-Quebec, which invests license fees from its 800 patents in developing cheaper, more ecologically friendly batteries. In 2016, Tesla Motors formed five-year cooperation with Dahn that it thinks will result in longer-lasting batteries and a speeding up of its efforts to produce cheaper, mass-market electric vehicles.

Lidar: Light detection and ranging technology are essential to radar and cameras in autonomous vehicles. LeddarTech and Phantom Intelligence from Quebec City are prominent competitors in the race to provide automakers with affordable lidar sensors.