Environment Canada's (EC) mandate is to preserve and enhance the quality of the natural environment; conserve Canada's renewable resources; conserve and protect Canada's water resources; forecast weather and environmental change; enforce rules relating to boundary waters; and coordinate environmental policies and programs for the federal government.
The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA),1999 commits EC to "undertake research and development programs for the study of the effect of vehicles, engines or equipment or emissions on air pollution, energy conservation and the environment and for the promotion of measures to control that effect" (Section 158.c). Vehicles and Engines Testing for Emissions Verification section (VETEV) of EC's Transportation Division (TD) administer testing programs to meet this commitment.
As part of its activities of administering the On-Road Vehicle and Engine Emission Regulations under CEPA 1999 the Vehicle and Engine Testing for Emissions Verification (VETEV) Section, performs conformity verifications of emissions of new and in-use vehicles, engines and motorcycles, representative of products offered for sale in Canada. The tests are performed at the Emission and Research Measurement Section (ERMS) laboratory on vehicles that have undergone a "break-in" schedule of accumulating a fixed number of kilometers.
Since these vehicles are “test specimens” they are more valuable than their base purchase price. They are specimens that may be used in a court proceeding as evidence. Driving these test specimens on public roads raises the level of responsibilities for the driver. The driver will also need to have vehicle technical knowledge in order to be able to detect and report abnormal performance behavior with the test specimen. Any performance issues may have an influence on the emissions test results.
