Whether you're looking for information about a specific car model or for more general automotive and transportation information, the Internet and your telephone provide access to a wide variety of sources.

Automobile manufacturers. Most manufacturers have both a local phone number and a toll-free phone number for calls from anywhere in Canada. The table below provides both phone numbers plus each company's Web address. "NA" indicates that we could not obtain the phone number.

Federal and provincial governments and organizations. Transport Canada can provide general information on vehicle safety standards, vehicle-restraint systems, fuel-consumption ratings, emissions, collision statistics, tires, and other topics. From Canada (except Ottawa), call 800-333-0371; from Ottawa and from other countries, call 613-998-8616.

Once you enter Transport Canada's Web site (www.tc.gc.ca), you'll find information about such topics as road safety and Canadian automotive regulations. Start at the site's Research Gateway (www.tc.gc.ca). You'll also have access to a number of useful sites, including Natural Resources Canada (environmental information), Statistics Canada (lots of information on a wide variety of subjects, including data derived from the national census), the Canadian Automobile Association (information on safety, travel, and other consumer topics), and the Transportation Association of Canada (technical and advocacy transportation issues).

You'll also find links to U.S. organizations and government agencies, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (www.nhtsa.dot.gov), the Transportation Research Board (www.trb.org), and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (www.iihs.org).

Automotive organizations. Another good place to start a search is at www.canadiandriver.com. There you’ll find links to various groups, including the Canada Safety Council (for driving safety as well as safety information on many other subjects). Another site is www.ccmta.ca, the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, a nonprofit transportation and highway-safety organization.


Automakers' phone numbers and Web addresses