Canada’s siding with California when it comes to stricter emissions standards may make environmental sense, but industry officials say it could jeopardize trade and make the country an outcast in the eyes of the U.S. government.

New Brunswick will no longer require front licence plates beginning July 15. Ontario recently balked at the idea of eliminating them. But the need to find space for new features could lead to more jurisdictions doing away with the front plate.

Ford's increasing emphasis on electronics, connectivity and technology is evident at the company's Ottawa tech centre, where test benches line the largest lab alongside cars and trucks on hoists.

A revision to Ontario law will extend an existing $1-million cap on lender liability to leased vehicles used by ride-hailing services. It means leasing to Uber and Lyft drivers is now more appealing to dealers and automakers.

A 25-kilometre test course that opened in Ottawa on Friday for autonomous and connected vehicles is North America's first to combine all available AV and vehicle-to-vehicle technologies, its backers say.

Only longstanding holdout Kia and some low-volume brands such as Rolls-Royce were absent from the Ottawa Gatineau International Auto Show this year.

Kia isn’t just relying on a high-profile hockey sponsorship to boost the brand. The new Forte is roomier inside and sleeker outside, with styling that tips its hat to the Stinger sport sedan. 

Unifor President Jerry Dias says he's "quite optimistic that we're going to be maintaining some sort of a footprint in Oshawa." The union is so hopeful that it has postponed an aggressive multi-media campaign to persuade the automaker to reverse its November decision to close the facility.

A hearing scheduled for Tuesday before the House of Commons industry committee was abruptly cancelled a day earlier due to what GM of Canada corporate affairs vice-president David Paterson called "multiple conflicts." Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that he spoke with GM CEO Mary Barra on Monday.

New trade deals in Asia and Europe, and $1.1 billion of government money over six years to aid expansion, are measures intended to jolt Canadian businesses, including automotive companies, into realizing they need to think globally.

BlackBerry is offering a free security management service to autonomous-vehicle pilot projects to allow cars and infrastructure to securely exchange information. The tech giant eventually plans to charge for the software.