The Automotive Industries Association of Canada (AIA Canada) welcomes the tabling of Bill 29, an Act to protect consumers against programmed obsolescence and promote durability, reparability and maintenance of goods, by Québec Minister of Justice Simon Jolin-Barrette.

This piece of legislation will enshrine the increasingly threatened right of Quebecers to have their vehicle serviced and repaired by the shop or garage of their choice, in addition to positioning Québec as a leader domestically and internationally in the fight against planned obsolescence and the right to repair motor vehicles.

Provisions that are unanimous within the industry

By recognizing that driving data produced by vehicles are the property of their driver, and by allowing the driver to consent to the data being passed on to a third party, such as a repair shop or an independent garage, the Bill fills a significant gap that has emerged in the industry in recent years with the arrival on our roads of a new generation of intelligent and electric vehicles.

A status quo that has become untenable

Car manufacturers and their affiliated dealers currently take advantage of the lack of a legislative framework adapted to the new reality of smart and electric vehicles to drastically restrict access to data produced by telemetry and telematics systems when driving these vehicles.

Given that nearly all new vehicles sold are now equipped with such systems, and access to this data is essential for proper diagnosis and repair, the status quo has become untenable.

Québec, a leader in the right to repair

In the coming weeks, AIA Canada plans to place its extensive auto repair expertise at the service of parliamentarians and suggest possible improvements to the legislation, so that its eventual adoption will allow Québec to join a select group of leaders in auto repair law, which includes Australia, South Africa, and a handful of US states.

In particular, the association will be looking at the application of this bill to prevent any loopholes in the now-recognized principle of the right to repair. This will allow the province of Québec to truly pave the way for other Canadian provinces and the federal government to act, for the benefit of drivers throughout Canada.

“With Bill 29, Québec will be a winner on all fronts: in addition to effectively fighting against planned obsolescence and encouraging the repair of automotive property, it will ensure a plurality of services and freedom of choice for Québec consumers as well as the promotion of healthy competition and competitive prices in the auto repair market. It will also enable approximately 90,900 employees who work in this industry to lend their skills to the electrification of transport,” says Jean-François Champagne, President of AIA Canada.