Canadian Legislative Updates

Newly Designed License Plates Introduced in Nova Scotia

Modern redesigned license plates are now featured on registered vehicles in Nova Scotia. The Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations, John MacDonell, highlighted that the province’s plates have remained largely unchanged for over twenty years.

The new design features a more modern look and feel, has improved visibility, and will help highlight one of the province’s most visible icons, the Bluenose. New plates issued to cars, trucks, and trailers will feature two significant changes: removing the painted border, as well as the validation sticker well on the upper left-hand corner.

Other components include a standard font, less overlap on the Bluenose graphic, and bolt holes that meet North American vehicle standards. As of November 1, 2011, validation stickers will go only on the right-hand side of the license plate. Left-side stickers issued before this date should be displayed on the left. Motorcycle and off-highway plates are not part of the new redesign.

Sault Ste. Marie Applies to be Partner in Electric-Vehicle Testing

City Council has provided its support to an application from the municipality to become a major partner in testing energy-charged electric vehicles in cold weather. The total spend for the program would be $97 million across Canada, which would cover the research and the development of projects to support technology that will use energy more cleanly and efficiently.

The city and other key players would partner with Heliene Inc. A letter of interest has been submitted to the ecoEII program called Fuel Use Reduction by Vehicle Replacement with Solar Infrastructure, Energy Charged Electric Vehicles in Cold Weather (Northern Ontario).

The proposal highlights that a demonstration project would be established to assess prototype infrastructure, which would test the charging stations and replacement of gas vehicles with electric vehicles in Northern Ontario conditions. It is expected that a decision will be made by mid-January.

New "Green" Rebates Introduced in British Columbia

Effective December 1, 2011, $17 million in funding will be available to consumers in order to help them get into clean energy vehicles. Announced by Environment Minister Terry Lake and Energy and Energy Mines Minister Rich Coleman, the initiative is part of the Canada Starts Here: BC Jobs Plan.

There are four specific programs available to consumers:

The point-of-sale incentive program will provide up to $5,000 off the sticker price for qualifying new battery electric, fuel cell electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and compressed natural gas vehicles
With over $6 million in provincial funding for new charging stations and upgrades to hydrogen fueling stations at existing facilities, owners of clean energy vehicles will have more charging and fueling options
Homeowners who want to install dedicated charging stations in their homes for their clean energy vehicles will get a rebate of up to $500 per qualifying station
$2.5 million in BC SCRAP-IT Society funding will expand the already successful non-profit group’s initiative to remove high-polluting vehicles from B.C. roads

The New Car Dealers Association of B.C. supports the announcement, highlighting that the point-of-sale rebate program is key to attracting new clean energy vehicles to the B.C. market.

Eligible clean energy vehicles include the Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi iMiEV, Tesla Roadster, Toyota Prius, Chevrolet Volt, light-duty natural gas vehicles, light-duty hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, and other qualifying vehicles bought or leased on or after December 1, 2011.

British Columbia was the first major region in North America to operate a carbon neutral public sector. These green investments will allow British Columbians to choose from a variety of greener transportation options which will, in turn, foster growth in the "green" economy.

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