Ground transportation companies in Québec operate in a wide variety of fields, including commercial vehicles, recreational and specialty vehicles, automobiles, rail transportation and electric mobility.
Some 620 ground transportation companies of all sizes operate in Québec.
Global leaders such as Bombardier Transportation, Nova Bus, Paccar and Prévost Car are supported by a wide array of dynamic SMBs.
The industry employs over 32,000 qualified workers.
A first in Canada! A shuttle service involving driverless electric vehicles is being tested on the public road system in Candiac, Québec, and is now transporting passengers. Keolis Canada and the city of Candiac, together with French shuttle maker NAVYA and several partners, launched the NAVYA autonomous shuttle in August 2018. The vehicles will coexist with regular traffic; in the long term, they will be integrated into the public transit system. This 12-month pilot project will test the shuttle’s ability to adapt to Québec winters.
The consortium comprising Bombardier Transportation and Alstom has signed a $448-million contract with the Société de transport de Montréal to supply 153 new AZUR metro cars. Most of the manufacturing and final assembly of these vehicles will be done at Bombardier Transportation’s plant in La Pocatière, Québec. Alstom’s Sorel-Tracy facility will supply the bogies and motors, as well as the train control, communication, passenger information and video surveillance systems.
Movin’On, Michelin’s international summit on sustainable mobility, will be back in Montréal from June 4 to 6, 2019. The theme of the third edition will be Solutions for Multimodal Ecosystems. This flagship event, which has been held in Montréal since 2017, has been a resounding success, with each edition attracting over 4,000 participants from around the world.
In August 2018, SNC-Lavalin and ABB announced the creation of a new joint venture, Linxon , which will execute turnkey alternating current substation projects related to renewable and conventional power generation. The turnkey solutions will include project design, engineering, procurement, construction, management, commissioning and after-sales support. Linxon will have an opening order backlog of $440 million.
CN will invest approximately $210 million in Québec in 2018 to optimize its rail network, thereby improving safety and supporting efficient service. This investment is part of CN’s record $3.4-billion capital program for 2018, which includes significant investments in information and technology. After hiring more than 300 IT professionals in 2017, CN is continuing to hire at its Montréal headquarters.
Volvo Group’s Québec-based subsidiary Nova Bus will invest $90 million over six years to modernize its plants and reinforce its R&D efforts. The program includes upgrading the company’s facilities by automating operations and introducing innovative, energy-efficient processes and digital technologies.
The outlook for this industry is excellent worldwide and especially in North America, where major projects continue to be launched. Why not take advantage of these business opportunities?
Many hybrid vehicles and specialized electric vehicles are now manufactured in Québec:
By investing heavily in postsecondary education, Québec has expanded access and achieved one of the highest graduation rates in OECD countries. Companies can draw from an impressive pool of qualified engineers, with over 60,000 among the ranks of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec alone.
Since Québec’s transportation industry boasts major innovative players in a number of key sectors, collaborative efforts are easier to initiate, encouraging the development of cutting-edge solutions. One example is
Dassault Systèmes , which has developed a 3D modelling platform that allows manufacturers to create virtual prototypes of vehicle parts before undertaking their actual design. In this way, they are able to design parts that integrate seamlessly with each other and create high-performance vehicles to meet a broad spectrum of market needs.
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