Oakville, Ontario – Canada Post will purchase 1,175 Ford Transit Connect vans this year, the largest fleet sale of the model in Canada to date, to replace its aging national fleet of light vehicles.

The company said that environmental impact, employee health and safety requirements, performance, capacity and total life cycle costs were essential to find a vehicle that best met Canada Post’s needs. The purchase was made through an open and competitive request for proposal (RFP) process. The Transit Connect is used by a number of post offices around the world.

“We are pleased with the outcome and look forward to the delivery of our first vehicles as we begin to replace many of our aging light vehicles with vehicles that are much more efficient and environmentally friendly,” said Bill Michalopulos, general manager of sourcing management at Canada Post. “It will also help our efforts to modernize our operations as we introduce motorization to our delivery routes.”