November 2025 Newsletter

Dear HVTT Forum subscriber,

Greetings from Canada! It’s hard to believe that six months have passed since HVTT18 Symposium in Québec City! As the calendar turns to December, Winnipeg’s temperatures have turned cold, but we remain remarkably snow-free!

I begin this newsletter with a topic that has dominated news headlines in Canada for the past several months: the fast-tracking of major projects deemed in Canada’s national interest. I’ll also highlight ongoing work by the HVTT Board to organize a learning and collaborative exchange in 2026, plus a must-attend workshop coming soon!

Projects of national (Canadian) interest: Implications for road freight transport

On June 26, 2025, the Government of Canada’s One Economy Act came into force, which marked a key component of newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney’s efforts to strengthen Canada’s economy amidst current trade-related uncertainties. The One Economy Act comprises two parts, the Building Canada Act and the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act. Since its passage, there has been considerable national discourse concerning the projects that could be proposed and approved under the Building Canada Act, with speculation that many would relate to the transportation, energy, and natural resources sectors.

The Building Canada Act created a new Major Projects Office to advance executable projects deemed in the national interest through a streamlined federal review process, which includes mandatory consultation with Indigenous Peoples. To date, 13 projects have been referred to the Major Projects Office for consideration. Of these, seven relate to energy (electricity, natural gas, nuclear), five add capacity for mining natural resources (copper, nickel, graphite, and tungsten), and one is a direct investment in transportation infrastructure (namely, the container terminal at the Port of Montreal). In addition to those projects, seven transformative strategies have been announced; these lay a foundation for future transport projects like high-speed rail, pipelines, upgrades at marine ports, and all-weather roads in northern regions.

So how does this relate to the HVTT community? These developments remind me of a highlight from the HVTT18 Symposium: the plenary session on transportation infrastructure resilience for road freight transport (if you missed it, you can check it out here). That session highlighted the challenges caused by road freight transport disruptions, roadbuilding in northern and remote regions (including an example of a major road infrastructure project serving northern Québec), and the need for data to support a better understanding of risk and resilience within road freight transport systems.

With the new Building Canada Act, these topics have been suddenly thrust into the public eye. While only one of the currently proposed projects relates directly to trucking, a closer examination reveals that many of the energy projects necessitate development of economic corridors that may one day also convey people, information, and goods. The mining projects bring critical minerals like copper, nickel, graphite, and tungsten to market, all of which are needed for transmitting electricity and storing it in batteries—batteries which could power vehicles, including trucks. Those same mines, once built, will generate long-term demand for freight transport. And, of course, heavy vehicles are critical for any major construction project. In short, those of us working in the road freight transport sector are confronted with the very real need for S2MART (i.e., sustainable, safe, modern, adaptable, resilient, and trustworthy) trucking that simultaneously supports economic, energy, climate, and security objectives.

In addition, of specific interest to the HVTT community is a renewed effort to remove regulatory barriers to interprovincial trade in Canada—including in the trucking sector. On November 19, 2025, the Committee on Internal Trade signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Interprovincial Trucking under the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act (the second part of the One Economy Act). This MoU aims to improve the efficiency of goods movement across the country through a commitment by participating provinces and territories to recognize each other’s regulatory requirements, like rules for oversized vehicle signage. Unfortunately, details of the MoU have not yet been made public.

HVTT Forum Webinar: Building opportunities for international exchange

As decided during the HVTT18 Symposium in Québec City, an HVTT webinar is being planned for 2026. Discussion with Board members regarding scope, the webinar approach, provisional planning, promotion, and the look and feel for the webinar has resulted in the following ideas:

• There will be two webinars, anticipated for April 2026, one for the combined time zones in Europe/Asia/Australia and another for Europe/North America/South America. Each webinar should not last more than two hours.
• There will be three presentations per webinar, followed by discussion, addressing current challenges, innovations that are needed (including those related to AI), expected socioeconomic impacts, and the potential roadmap to introduce these innovations in the market, including the process of approval and legislation.
• This is an opportunity to promote HVTT through personal networks, websites of relevant organizations, social media, and the HVTT contact list.

Input received so far has resulted in five areas of interest, now being reduced to two major themes:

1. Smart heavy vehicle combinations within an intelligent transport environment
2. Worldwide trends towards high productivity road transport

A potential working title for the webinar has been suggested (with credit due to Board member Nikhil Muthakana): Road Transport Unlocked: Digital, Electric & High-Capacity Futures

In the next phase of preparation, we will be seeking speakers and moderators and working to promote webinars through various channels.

Special thanks to Joop Pauwelussen, HVTT Board Member, for this contribution.

Advancing sustainable road freight transport

Finally, in case you’ve missed it, the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight will be hosting its 12th international workshop on December 8-9, 2025. Perusing the agenda, I see that the workshop will highlight research by several HVTT colleagues! For those unable to make the trip to Cambridge, UK, an on-line option is available.

Jonathan Regehr

HVTT Vice-President, North America