G/TBT/N/CAN/642  
20 May 2021  
(21-4219) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  English /French  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6  
 
1. Notifying Member:  CANADA   
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):   
2. Agency responsible:  Department of Transport  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers , email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:   
Canada's Notification A uthority and Enquiry Point  
Technical Barriers and Regulations Division  
Global Affairs Canada  
111 Sussex Drive  
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0G2  
Canada  
Telephone: (343)203 -4273 
Fax: (613)943 -0346 
Email: enquir ypoint@international.gc.ca   
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other :  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Motor 
vehicles; Road vehicles in general (ICS 43.020), Commercial vehicles (ICS 43.080)  
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Regulations 
Amending Certain Regulations Made under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Mini mum Sound 
Requirements for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles), (16 pages, available in English and 
French)  
6. Description of content:  The proposed safety standard includes requirements to testable 
acoustic parameters when the vehicle is about to move or is mov ing at low speeds. These 
requirements would ensure that blind, visually impaired, and other pedestrians and pedal 
cyclists are able to detect and recognize nearby hybrid and electric vehicles. These 
specifications should allow the pedestrian to recognize t hat there is a vehicle present, 
where that vehicle is, and in what state it is operating, more precisely, if the vehicle is 
accelerating or decelerating, going forward or reversing.  
It is important to note that HEVs currently on the road in Canada voluntar ily conform to 
either the U.S. or UN requirements. The goal would be to incorporate the two sets of 
requirements into a Canadian standard, allowing manufacturers to choose which 
requirement to adopt (i.e. either the U.S. or UN requirement), thereby codifyi ng an 
already existing practice.  G/TBT/N/CAN/642  
 
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  7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable:  The objective of this proposal is to introduce a requirement in Canadian 
regulations to require hybrid and electric light vehicles to meet minimum sound 
requirements at low speeds in order to maintain a minimum level of safety for pedestrians 
and pedal cy clists, including the blind and visually impaired. The minimum sound 
generated by hybrid and electric light vehicles would be comparable to the sound 
generated by conventionally powered vehicles; Other  
8. Relevant documents:   
• Canada Gazette , Part I, 24 Ap ril 2021, pages 1765 -1780 (available in English and 
French)  
9. Proposed date of adoption:  On the date of publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II.  
Proposed date of entry into force:  These Regulations would come into force on the 
day on which they are published in the Canada Gazette, Part II.  
10. Final date for comments:  17 July 2021  
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [X] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available , of other body:   
The electronic version of the regulatory text can be found at:  
https://canadagazette.gc.ca/rp -pr/p1/2021/2021 -04-24/html/reg3 -eng.html   
https://canadagazette.gc.ca/rp -pr/p1/2021/2021 -04-24/html/reg3 -fra.html