Marc Garneau, Canada’s Minister of Transport, recently announced a new Alexa service that would provide consumers with vehicle recall information.
Known as “Vehicle Recalls Canada”, the service must first be enabled through the Amazon Alexa application before it can be activated with the phrase “Alexa, open vehicle recalls.” Alexa will then ask several questions about the make and model of the vehicle in question, and will provide all recall information related to the vehicle.
“The Government of Canada is committed to improving service delivery for Canadians and providing information in new, innovative ways,” said Garneau. “Vehicle recall information is important and Canadians need to have vehicle safety defects corrected in a timely manner. The easier we make it for Canadians to obtain this information, the better.”
The move is a follow-up to Canada’s new 2019 regulations for automotive manufacturers to provide more safety information to consumers in recall notices. It also builds on the 2018 Strengthening Motor Vehicle Safety for Canadians Act, which allowed the Minister of Transport to order a company to recall a vehicle when a safety issue is identified, pay for the cost of repairs, and fix a new vehicle it can be sold.
However, the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) successfully sought to enhance certain protections for dealers in the vehicle recall legislation through an amendment (Bill S-2) that ensures manufacturers remain fully responsible for recalls, that there is a buyback provision, and that there are no new responsibilities or liabilities for dealers in the recall process, among other things.
