Electronic Products & Technology

The rise of autonomous vehicles within Canada

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Ottawa-based Information and Communications Technology Council releases its report, a ‘first of its kind’ in Canada

The Information and Communications Technology Council, Ottawa, released a ‘first of its kind’ report which highlights the development of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology and deployment, along with its wide-ranging and profound impacts on the Canadian labour market.

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The AV market is reaching maturity around the word and in Canada. Using technological innovations like LIDAR, ADAS and Artificial Intelligence, autonomous vehicles are quickly re-shaping our transportation system and changing the way we think of driving.  Key examples include an average accident ratio among AVs in severe traffic accidents that is less than half of the incident ratio among humans. While the first fully autonomous (self-sufficient) vehicles – requiring no human intervention –  are expected to hit our streets by 2022, many companies, governments and research institutions both in Canada and around the world, are taking key steps in achieving this goal at speed.

The implications of this development are far from negligible. Expected impacts include reduced traffic congestion, improved road safety, increased productivity, and improved opportunities for inclusivity, diversity and mobility among all Canadians. More, from an economic lens, the global market for autonomous vehicles is expected to reach $77B worldwide by 2035, with Canada taking crucial steps forward in grabbing a share of this growth. Forecasting Canada’s role and labour market needs in this growing field, ICTC estimates a demand for approximately 34, 700 jobs in the Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) market by 2021. Of course, while AVs will steer the growth of high-quality occupations across Canada, the nature of this technological change will also lend to the reduced demand or even displacement of other occupations. Generating the essential digital skills today needed to drive this growth and maintain healthy employment levels across all sectors is crucial, with key initiatives including skill development training, and policies that highlight the importance of diversity and inclusion, as well as increased collaboration between industry and academia.

Canada’s changing labour market a result of increased adoption of autonomous vehicles for road and urban transportation

Funded by the Government of Canada’s Sectoral Initiatives Program, this report provides an in-depth analysis of Canada’s changing labour market, as a result of the increased adoption of autonomous vehicles for road and urban transportation. From the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, technology has been impacting, shaping and consistently recalibrating various aspects of our lives and our societies, while making us more resourceful, informed, and more resilient in the process. AVs are merely one current-day example of a revolutionary change instrument, prompted by technology.

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AVs possess the capacity to drive large-scale progress, technological development and disruption in Canada and around the world. Taking these and other characteristics into account, autonomous vehicles are primed to be one of the most anticipated innovations of our time, and have sparked a new wave of intelligent transportation systems that are shifting the way we move around and ultimately, how we live. While Canada has a long way to go to in order to reach the level of autonomous technology powerhouses like the US, Germany or Japan, recent developments paint a promising picture of our national potential for progress in this field.

In the meantime, it is critical that Canada continue moving forward and pushing boundaries in the space of autonomous vehicles, including shaping a workforce with the skills and competencies needed to fully leverage this technology in the future.  Our ability to compete, drive progress in this field and in the digital economy is tied to our capacity to equip Canadians with the skills they will need to not only fill these jobs, but to flourish in them.

“We are witnessing the dawn of truly driverless vehicles, with strong potential dividend for our economy and society. Fast tracking our entry in this growth market will be key for Canada going forward.” Namir Anani, ICTC President & CEO.

For a detailed labour market analysis of autonomous vehicles and the implications of this wide-reaching technology on the Canadian labour market, please see the complete report titled Autonomous Vehicles and the Future of Work in Canada  here

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