The Ontario Government in Canada has extended its support for the launch of the first automated vehicle (AV) pilot programme in Canada, which is being led by The University of Waterloo, the Erwin Hymer Group and BlackBerry QNX.

The pilot project will see a range of expertise from the research, manufacturing and technology sectors to advance innovation and capability in Ontario's AV sector.

Ontario Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca said:  “Our pilot has truly given Ontario the opportunity to be a world leader in automated technology.

"Our pilot has truly given Ontario the opportunity to be a world leader in automated technology."

“We are delighted that Erwin-Hymer, QNX and the University of Waterloo will be the first applicants to test their automated vehicles on Ontario’s roads.

"We look forward to working with them to advance AV innovation in Ontario’s dynamic business environment.”

The participants of this pilot project include, the WATCar Project at the University of Waterloo's Centre for Automotive Research, the Erwin Hymer Group, and BlackBerry QNX, a Canadian global software development company.

University of Waterloo Dean of Faculty of Engineering Pearl Sullivan said: “This is a direction in automotive engineering innovation that we are proud to lead in Canada, and we applaud the Government of Ontario for their foresight.

“As Canada’s strongest research team in connected and autonomous vehicles, with engineering and computer science professors working in areas from embedded sensors, to advanced control to artificial intelligence, we are very excited with this new frontier for piloting Waterloo Engineering innovations.”

In January, Ontario became the first province in Canada to create a pilot regulatory framework to test automated vehicles on its roads.