Ottawa, Ontario - With an updated federal definition of low-speed vehicles (LSV), manufacturers of LSV trucks can now begin to market them across Canada, said Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. The low-speed trucks are designed for use such as groundskeeping, landscaping, and in certain industrial and institutional settings such as campuses and resorts.

“The marketing of zero-emissions, electric low-speed trucks in Canada is good news,” Cannon said. “These low-speed trucks are environmentally friendly and represent one more step in our government’s ambitious environmental agenda. While greener vehicles are the future, LSVs should be used in controlled low-speed environments like campuses and retirement communities, where the risk of entering into a collision with a faster motor vehicle would be lower than on public roads.”

LSVs provide a substantially lower level of safety than conventional types of vehicles such as cars, the government said in a statement, but can be safely used on university campuses, in parks and retirement communities, and on military bases where the maximum speed is 40 km/hr and the presence of larger and faster vehicles is controlled. Road use of LSVs, including vehicle licensing, is a matter for provinces and territories to regulate.

The federal Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations have always required that LSVs be powered by an electric motor, produce no emissions, have four wheels, and drive at a maximum speed of between 32 and 40 km/hr.