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There’s likely not a person in Canada who hasn’t spent considerable time, since late 2024, following the news of the erratic ups and downs of the trade relationship between the U.S., as there’s hardly an industry that doesn’t stand to be impacted. And if Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent statement reported in The Wall Street Journal in mid-July is any indication, when the tariff chaos does settle down, it may leave a very different relationship in its wake than what Canada is accustomed to.
But there has been an upside to this ongoing uncertainty. It has helped Canadian businesses appreciate even more the value of buying and using Canadian services. When it comes to fleet safety technology, choosing Canadian provides huge advantages over sourcing solutions stateside. Here’s how!
Choosing Canadian Keeps Costs Down And Stable
Amid global unpredictability, going local just makes sense.
Canadian solutions like Geotab offer a relatively affordable monthly subscription (typically around $30 per month), with hardware available at a modest one-time cost of less than $200. In contrast, similar U.S.-based products (priced in U.S. dollars) can be significantly more expensive once converted to Canadian currency.
Beyond the higher base prices, many American vendors also introduce additional fees and less transparent pricing structures, which can make it harder to predict the total cost of ownership over time.
Increased tariffs, currency value fluctuations, and other shifts in trade policy, can make U.S.-based fleet technology not just more expensive, but unpredictably priced.
It’s hard to do business in an environment where you’re never certain if you’ll wake up to an extra surcharge being tacked on to a piece of business-critical safety technology. Buying and partnering Canadian keeps your cost stable, no matter what is going on in the States.
Deploying Canadian Tech Builds Canada’s Economy
Using Canadian fleet solutions is an all-around economic booster. It creates local jobs, boosts tech-sector innovation, and helps strengthen domestic economic independence. Fleet safety solutions also, naturally, improve the safety and reliability of heavy machines including trucks on the road, and many other types of machinery like ones used for sanitation, infrastructure maintenance and construction. Safer machines yield enhanced fleet operations efficiency, more transactions, more customers, and higher profits for Canadian companies and institutions.
Canadian Solutions Comply With Canadian Data Regulations
Canada data privacy rules differ from those in the U.S. and even the EU. Canadian fleet solution providers and vendors know these regulations and pay attention to their changes. If you’re working with U.S. companies, there is a much greater chance of compliance gaps.
For instance, when Wellington County, Ontario needed to upgrade the safety and effectiveness of its snowplows, it had to make sure the system complied with Canadian cybersecurity and privacy guidelines. While U.S. vendors might promise compliance, there’s no telling how rigorous they’ll be about Canadian and provincial privacy practices, nor what business decisions might impact their future compliance. The municipality went with DiCAN, to work with someone who knows fleet compliance in Canada.
Legislation Is Incentivizing Choosing Canadian
Long before the recent spate of hot and cold tariff negotiations with the U.S., the Government of Canada itself instituted legal regulations to keep certain types of data (such as tax information) residing inside the country. Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec have even more restrictive legislation, preventing certain types of institutions from transferring or accessing particular types of data outside of Canada, which today has big implications for cloud relationships.
The new wind of focus on domestic business has more legislation moving in this direction. More municipalities plan to go further where practical, and we may even see more comprehensive federal legislation incentivizing or mandating domestic sourcing for public sector work.
The issue extends beyond cloud data. Take for example the 2024 new regulations for Dump-Style vehicles in British Columbia. The province enacted laws requiring, among other things, speed-limiting systems, and in-cab warning devices for dump box positioning to prevent overpass collisions. A U.S. tech company’s inability or lack of motivation to prioritize new demands like these, fast, would leave a fleet open to enforcement over non-compliance. Canadian fleet technology providers, conversely, will be aware of, and focused on, Canadian compliance up-to-the-moment as burdens change.
Pro-Canada Sentiment Builds Business
Patriotism is big in Canada today, and when customers see that a company is using Canadian solutions, they see a company keeping the country robust and independent. It brings in more business, and makes people feel good about the business they’re doing.
Canadian Fleet Solutions: Good For Canada, Good For You
Using Canadian fleet solutions makes sure that no matter which way geopolitical winds shift, safety remains your top priority. It’s better for your customers, clients, or constituents, better for your bottom line, and better for Canada. So if you want to see what solutions DiCAN can deploy to keep your fleet safe contact us for a consultation today!
