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'Transport Canada' is the department within the government of Canada which is responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of transportation in Canada.

Contents

History

Current Structure of Transport Canada

Roles

Road

Rail

Marine

Aviation

See also

External link

History

The Department of Transport was created in 1935 by the government of Mackenzie King in recognition of the changing transportation environment in Canada. It merged two historic departments the former Department of Railways and Canals and the Department of Marine under one dynamic minister Clarence Decatur Howe who would use the portfolio to rationalize the governance and provision of all forms of transportation (air, water and land). He created a National Harbours Board and Trans-Canada Airlines. The Department of Transport Act came into force November 2, 1936.
Prior to a 1994 federal government reorganization, Transport Canada had a wide range of responsibilities including the Canadian Coast Guard, the St. Lawrence Seaway, airports and seaports, as well as VIA Rail and CN Rail. Significant cuts to Transport Canada at that time resulted in CN Rail being privatized, the coast guard being transferred to Fisheries and Oceans and the seaway and various ports and airports being transferred to local operating authorities; Transport Canada emerged from this process as a fundamentally different organization focused on policy and regulation as opposed to transportation operation.
Perhaps, the biggest challenge for Transport Canada came in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. After the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration closed down U.S. airspace as a result of the terrorist attacks, Transport Canada shut down Canadian airspace, to take in U.S.-bound international flights, launching Operation Yellow Ribbon.
The current Minister of Transport is the Honourable Lawrence Cannon.

Current Structure of Transport Canada

★ Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Lawrence Cannon

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★ Deputy Minister, Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and Deputy Head Infrastructure and Communities Louis Ranger Deputy Minister

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★ Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security, Marc Grégoire

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★ Assistant Deputy Minister, Programs,

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★ Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy

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★ Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services

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★ Director General. Communications

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★ Regional Director General, Atlantic Region

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★ Regional Director General, Quebec Region

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★ Regional Director General, Ontario Region

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★ Regional Director General, Prairie and Northern Region

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★ Regional Director General, Pacific Region

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★ Departmental General Counsel
Transport Canada org chart

Roles

Road

The ''Motor Vehicle Safety Act'' was established in 1971 in order to create safety standards for cars in Canada. The department also acts as the federal government's funding partner on jointly-funded provincial transportation infrastructure projects for new highways.

Rail

Transport Canada's role in railways include:

★ railway safety

★ strategies for rail travel accessibility

★ safety of federally regulated railway bridges

★ Inspecting and testing traffic control signals, grade crossing warning systems

★ rail operating rules

★ regulations, standards and services for safe transport of dangerous goods

★ Canadian Transport Emergency Centre to assist emergency response and handling dangerous goods emergencies

Marine

Transport Canada is responsible for the waterways inside and surrounding Canada. These responsibilities include:

★ responding and investigateing marine accidents within Canadian waters

★ enforcing marine acts and regulations

★ establishing and enforcing marine personnel standards and pilotage

★ Marine Safety

★ Marine Security

★ regulating the operation of marine vessels in Canadian waters

Aviation

Until 1996, Transport Canada was responsible for both regulation of aviation and the operation of air traffic services, similar to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States, as well as the operation of most major airports. On November 1 1996, these responsibilities were split: Transport Canada remains responsible for regulation, but a new regulated non-profit company, NAV CANADA, took over responsibility for all civilian air traffic services. This change was (and remains) controversial because Nav Canada began charging for services that were previously funded through general tax revenue. In 2005, the United States was discussing a similar delegation of the FAA's air traffic services to an "arm's-length" government corporation.
During the 1990s, Transport Canada also began privatizing the operation of large airports, and divesting itself of small airports altogether (typically handing them over to municipalities). Following the 1994 National Airports Policy, Transport Canada retains ownership of all airports with 200,000 or more annual passenger movements, as well as the primary airports serving the federal, provincial, and territorial capitals, but leases most of these airports (which make up the National Airports System) to outside operators; currently, there are 26 airports in the system.
Transport Canada continues to be responsible for licensing pilots and other aviation specialists (such as dispatchers and mechanics) as well as registering and inspecting aircraft. It is also responsible for the safety certification of most forms of commercial operations. These responsibilities are carried out by 6 regions, Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Prairie & Northern and Pacific. The other region based in Ottawa (National Capital Region) is responsible for air operators operating international flights and certain types of large aeroplanes.
==Office of Energy Efficiency==
Transport Canada's Personal Vehicles Initiative from the
Office of Energy Efficiency maintains eco information on vehicles. This information is used to: advise consumers, determine which vehicles receive government rebates, and which ones are subject to low mileage taxes. This data is significantly differenet than the EPA equivalent Gas Mileage Guide. For example, according to transport Canada, a 2007 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx with a V6 engine and a manual transmission obtains 39 mpg highway. The EPA reports 28 mpg highway for the same make and model.
Transport Canada results also appear to have no correlation with actual mileage. For example, a 2007 automatic transmission KIA Spectra vehicle is reported with 46 mpg highway by Transport Canada, while actual owners report an average of 31 mpg.
The reason why actual mileage and test mileage is so different can be explained.
Firstly, the Office of Energy Efficiency reports imperial mpg. To compare with the US mpg, the conversion factor of 235 is divided by the L/100km. This will be 20% lower than imperial mpg.
Secondly, vehicles have gasoline in the engine and gas lines at any time. This is why if your tank is on empty, you can still drive a short distance. Canadian mileage tests are done for 16-km on a programmable laboratory dynamometer (treadmill). Since only two wheels are spinning, it is relatively trivial for the electronic control module of a 4-cylinder, two-wheel drive car to detect these test conditions and "borrow" approximately 10 ml per km of gas out of the engine rather than the tank; it's a little like having a spare tank. Eventually, this borrowed gasoline needs to be returned to the engine, something that does not happen during the test. You can usually correct for this test-condition factor just by adding 1 L/100km to the test results listed with the vehicle. A different correction factor is needed for hybrid vehicles and vehicles with more than 4 cylinders which is not discussed here.
For example, Personal Vehicles Initiative list a manual transmission 2007 Honda Fit Wagon with mileage of Hwy 5.8 L/100km (49 mpg). First we note the correct mileage would actually be 1+5.8 = 6.8 L/100km. To convert this to US mpg, we simply take 235/(1+5.8) = 35 mpg. This is within roundoff errors of 34 mpg reported in the EPA Gas Mileage Guide.
Another factor to be aware of is, that since only the drive wheels spin during the test, it is possible to minimize friction by using the electronic stabilization control system to shift the weight off the vehicle drive wheels. Also, the test fails to account for airflow. So, a car designed like a brick would perform equally well as a car NASA designs for optimal air flow in a wind tunnel.

See also

The provinces also have their own transportation departments, namely to deal with roads and vehicle licensing and regulations:

★ Ministry of Transportation (Ontario)

★ Transports Québec

★ Department of Transportation (New Brunswick)

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★ Transportation Safety Board of Canada

External link

★ Transport Canada