Well it's somewhat old news, but it doesn't appear to have been mentioned on beyond:

In October 13's Gazette (Vol. 141, No. 41), Transport Canada requested comments regarding the intention to amend Section 215, "Bumpers", of the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations.

http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partI/20...tice-e.html#i10

Options they are considering are to rescind all of the Canadian bumper standard or to harmonize with the US standards.

So for those who wish they hadn't missed out on cars like the Toyota MRS or the EVO XIII, this is our opportunity to influence Transport Canada to drop our bumper laws and allow more vehicle variety in Canada. I'd love to see a Canadian market with more European manufacturers, so read the article in the Gazette and respond to Transport Canada and your MP. We're fortunate that they're even considering this, they've done all the research for the article, it's easy to see why we should rescind the regulations entirely.

The bumper regulations we have today come from the 70's (remember the bulky bumpers we had well into the 80s), many modern countries such as Austria, France, the UK, Switzerland, Japan and Australia, have no safety standards regulating bumper impact tests for the benefit of pedestrian safety.

Since the review period for this ended Dec 31, 2007, it seems Transport Canada has decided the next course of action based on the comments from the public:

http://www.globeauto.com/servlet/st...lGlobeAuto/home

Bye bye 8km/h bumpers!

very interesting, I thought I recalled reading about this earlier but I don't think it was on beyond...

Transport Canada considering less stringent bumper rules
MICHAEL BETTENCOURT

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

E-mail
January 3, 2008 at 12:00 AM EST

Transport Canada has acknowledged that the safety benefits of its eight kilometres/hour bumper regulations — a higher speed than allowed by the United States or Europe — does not justify the cost, and will look at various changes to come down as early as this summer.

"From a cost-benefit perspective, Transport Canada has been unable to justify why the Canadian bumper standard should continue to be more stringent than those of the United States or the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe," wrote Transport Canada in a proposal to change the bumper standards, which appeared in the official Canada Gazette. From that proposal, it's clear that Transport Canada officials are hoping to make a change.

"In the absence of evidence that the benefits of the Canadian bumper standard exceed the cost to society resulting from it, maintaining the standard unchanged would not appear to constitute an appropriate solution," wrote Christian Lavoie, director of standards research and development for Transport Canada.

The logical change would be to move the standards closer to the four km/h U.S. standard mandated, wrote Lavoie, because the current system makes it more expensive for auto makers to sell cars here (costs that are passed on to Canadian buyers in the form of higher prices) and also delays or limits the import of some vehicles, usually limited volume but highly desirable models. "The end result for consumers is a potentially smaller consumer choice and an increase in car purchase prices," Lavoie wrote.

Canadian standards are meant to ensure that suspension, engine, headlight and brake components that are key to a vehicle's safe operation are not be affected by low-speed parking bumps. Yet the government says there is ample evidence that aligning the Canadian bumper test speed with that of the U.S. National Highway Transportation Administration standards would not make Canadian cars less safe.

"In terms of safety, a ... report prepared by NHTSA in 1987, indicated that the change in the bumper standard from 8 km/h to 4 km/h in 1982 had not affected the protection of the safety related parts," wrote Lavoie. "Thus, the Department believes that it is time to revisit the Canadian bumper standard and determine whether it is justified to maintain or amend the standard."Evidence suggests that Canada's unique bumper rules reduce repair costs over the lifetime of the vehicle, but they also increase costs and fuel consumption, wrote Lavoie.

Transport Canada finished a consultation period on Dec. 31 on a number of proposed bumper changes focused on aligning the standards.

Given the furor over Canadian vehicle pricing compared with similar models in the United States, and the increasing number of Canadians buying south of the border, the relatively unsexy bumper issue may get a lot more attention this year.

Well that's pretty cool.

EDIT: I love how both my posts were merged on top of each other.

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/202161/t...er-regulations/

Its cool that we've gonna be allowed some of the awesome cars we want. but in all reality I feel its a step backwards. Its a good thing to have bumpers that absorb the smaller impacts without allowing the damage to get further into the car. Small fender benders cost more on cars without such bumpers and in larger collisions that energy absorbing bumper reduces the amount of energy exerted on the rest of the car and your body.

But hell, sign me up for an evo.

Does this mean I can start bringing Mercs over the border without all the hassle, Merc should be trying to block this tooth and nail haha

Well those same stronger bumpers tend to injure pedestrians more than they should, this is why Austria, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan, and Australia don't have any bumper impact tests.

GTO

Evo IX

Bumpers that can take low impact aren't 'Stronger'. they have materials that are designed to destruct and absorb the impact force. They actually would cause less damage or the same damage to pedestrians.

edit: after a little more though I don't think that a human body has the mass the get through the bumper cover and have an effect on a impact absorbing bumper. I think that a pedestrian is going to suffer the same injuries. broken legs and then hit the hood/windshield where most of the injuries will be suffered.

Any update on this? I'm hoping to bring home a car that requires bumper mods, and I'm hoping to save some money by not having to change them.

Canada to harmonize bumper standard with U.S., Europe

Ottawa, Ontario – The Government of Canada has proposed an amendment to the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations that will harmonize the Canadian bumper standard for passenger cars with similar safety standards from the U.S. and Europe.

The proposed amendment would result in one set of globally-regulated test speed requirements for bumper design, which would simplify the design for vehicles destined for the North American and European markets. The proposed change is consistent with the spirit of the Canada-U.S. Security and Prosperity Partnership to reduce regulatory differences and facilitate international trade, while maintaining high levels of safety.

“This proposed amendment would offer more choice to Canadians who wish to import vehicles,” said Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. “At the same time, it would help to maintain the safety of Canadian roads.”

http://www.canadiandriver.com/thene...h-us-europe.htm

OMG OMG Evo IX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry guys but I think you gotta put this into Laymen's terms...

Bumpers... meaning Canada will flatten standards with USA in order to bring in newer or more European cars?

So can we now bring in Evo VIII and IX?

No time line given

I personally would rather get a VW R32 before an EVO.