What is the ITS Plan for Canada?

The ITS Plan for Canada sets out the federal government's plan to advance the objectives of the framework to bring Canada's transportation system into the 21st Century.

What are the objectives of the framework?

The four objectives are:

1) to promote transportation safety;
2) to support trade and tourism through more productive and "smarter" transportation systems;
3) to improve our quality of life by promoting more sustainable transportation systems; and
4) to sustain strategic investment in transportation.

What is the Deployment and Integration Plan?

Transport Canada has established a deployment plan to guide and manage deployment activities supported by the federal government. Broadly speaking, the role of the federal government will be to focus attention on the opportunities for and the benefits of deployment for all modes; provide seed funding to lever complementary public and private sector investment; and contribute to the testing of the model applications that would be transferable in applicability and encourage further deployment by others.

How do I apply for funding?

Funds are generally made available through calls for proposals. At this time, there is no open competition. If a decision is made to issue another call for proposals, an announcement will be made or posted on the Transport Canada and the ITS Office websites, and are published in various industry newsletters.

How much funding can I receive for my project?

Funding limits are set at 50% of the eligible costs of successful proposals, to a maximum of $100,000 for private sector projects; and $250,000 for not-for-profit organizations, academia, First Nations, provincial and municipal projects.

What is the deadline for applications?

Each call for proposals will have a specific deadline, approximately 3 months following the announcement. Proposals received after the deadline will be returned unopened to the applicants.

What types of projects receive funding?

The types of initiatives eligible for financial support from the federal government will be announced with each call for proposal. They may include feasibility, planning and integration studies that assess and guide the deployment of ITS; proposals for deployment of ITS systems; systems integration projects to achieve interoperability and compliance with the ITS architecture for Canada; pilot ITS projects involving intergovernmental and private sector cooperation; ITS projects of national scope or that promote cross-Canada applications; and research and development projects.

What is the R&D; Plan?

Transport Canada is released its multi-modal ITS Research and Development Plan, "Innovation Through Partnership", in April 2003. The Plan responds to the challenge of Canada's Innovation Strategy, and serves both the third strategic pillar of En Route to Intelligent Mobility and as an important first step in meeting the ITS commitments made by Transport Canada in Straight Ahead. The Plan sets out Transport Canada's activities in fostering innovation and describes funding categories and mechanisms that address departmental R&D priorities. 

What is the ITS Architecture for Canada??

The architecture is the communications and information backbone that supports and unites key ITS technologies, enabling them to work together and communicate with each other. The architecture provides the framework for integrating multiple ITS applications across agencies, jurisdictions and systems and for ensuring that products and services are compatible.

What is CVO?

CVO is an acronym for Commercial Vehicle Operations. The purpose of the CVO bundle of services is to improve the safety and efficiency of commercial vehicle operations, through improvements in fleet management tools and techniques for the carriers themselves; and improved and more efficient regulatory enforcement techniques for government agencies.

What is RWIS?

RWIS is an acronym for Road Weather Information Systems. It involves the use of weather and road data from automated weather reporting stations installed along the roadway which have special sensors embedded in and below the roadway, to assist weather forecasters in predicting icing conditions before they occur. Road maintenance crews can use this information to decide if road treatment is necessary, the best time to treat, what chemicals or mixtures to use, and how much is required.