001/25 - Strategic Plan Development - Request for Consultant Services

Strategic Planning 2026-2028
Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan
Founded in 1994, the Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan is an organization that handles disputes between consumers and manufacturers about allegations of manufacturing defects in the vehicles and disputes about how the vehicle manufacturers implement their new vehicle warranties.  CAMVAP is available in all Provinces and Territories. Public information about CAMVAP, its role in the marketplace and cases handled along with its governance structure can be found on its website at www.camvap.ca and in its annual reports which are available on the website.  CAMVAP provides its services in English and French and will arrange interpreters for arbitrations when needed.
The Strategic Plan for CAMVAP has for many years been developed internally by staff and then debated and amended as needed by the program’s Board of Directors.  However, the Board of Directors decided at its April 2025 meeting that CAMVAP should consider seeking outside independent assistance in the development of its Strategic Plan going forward as there is a need to validate the program’s strategic direction for the immediate future.
Some issues faced by the organization.
The program’s long-term sustainability has become a concern to the board and management.  Over the past several years a number of issues have converged to bring this issue to the forefront.

• Three manufacturers have ceased participation in the program.  Loss of another significant sized manufacturer could lead to the program being closed.
• Several vehicle manufacturers have chosen not to be in the program.

• Quebec legislating a ‘lemon law’, while not affecting CAMVAP at this point is also a concern because the original motivation for the manufacturers working to develop the program in cooperation with government was to avoid lemon laws There does not appear to be any other government leaning towards development of a lemon law currently.
•  Overall awareness of the program and its availability to consumers remains and ongoing issue as awareness issues generally cost money and the greater the awareness the likelihood would be that there would be a greater number of cases.
• Governance has been identified as an issue with respect to:
  • The division of responsibility between the board and management,
  • The authority and efficiency of organizational decision making as it relates to:
    • Board sub-committees
    • The Executive Committee
    • The Board of Directors
    • The General Manager
  • The efficiency of the decision-making process within the organization and frustration arising from continual review of issues by different levels within the organization.
  • Clear delegation to and empowerment of the General Manager to run the program.
• A lack of innovative and creative “out of the box” thinking about how to reimagine the program to meet its mission for both manufacturers and consumers arising from a program that is now 30 years old.