The B.C. government's next five-year fleet management contract contains a few lines that may be significant to anyone operating a provincially-owned vehicle: the next company to manage ministry vehicles will be asked to install and manage GPS monitoring devices.
Vehicles will be equipped with a comprehensive "telematics" system that will incorporate software to "collect, analyze, and manage data related to vehicle use and maintenance, including data associated with behavioural patterns of vehicle operators." Data on location, speed, idling time, and fuel consumption will then be relayed to fleet managers in real-time.
According to the Ministry of Citizens' Services, which is overseeing the bidding process, the province wants potential suppliers to provide telematics systems, "to modernize and inform B.C.鈥檚 future fleet management needs, including the use of GPS." ARI Financial Services holds the current contract, which expires on Jan. 31, 2026. Bidding on the new one closed on May 23, and potential suppliers are being evaluated.
These types of GPS systems have been available for more than a decade, and the B.C. government did not respond to questions about why it has taken the province so long to adopt them. It is also unclear if all vehicles will be tracked, or only those from specific ministries or agencies.
The new fleet contract encompasses a wide range of management and maintenance services for all vehicles owned and leased by government ministries, as well as some other broader public service agencies. According to the language in the contract tender, it appears all of these will have GPS installed.
These vehicles are used for a wide range of purposes, including social services, forestry management, correctional services, and health services. There is also an "executive fleet" used by deputy ministers. The contractor will manage approximately 4,700 light-duty vehicles, 2,300 heavy-duty vehicles, 2,400 non-road mobile machines, and 750 rental vehicles.
Plans to introduce the GPS trackers were revealed in a recent report from the B.C. Ombudsperson Jay Chalke on the efficacy of the Public Interest Disclosure Act, a piece of legislation that protects government whistleblowers who go through the proper reporting channels.
Chalke's report outlines a few case studies of complaints brought forward by whistleblowers that may not have resulted in a finding of wrongdoing, but which nevertheless led to recommendations that he decided should be made public.
One case involves a complaint that a Commercial Vehicle Safety Enforcement (CVSE) officer was using an assigned patrol vehicle for "extensive" personal use. Chalke's office investigated, but found that due to a lack of information, it was impossible to determine what mileage was from work and what was not.
The Ministry of Transportation and Transit assured Chalke that changes were in the works and the government planned to include GPS tracking on vehicles as part of its next fleet management contract.
B.C. Conservative Transportation critic Harman Bhangu expressed concerns over employee privacy, saying using GPS tracking for all government vehicles is going "a little too far," and other solutions should have been looked at first. Bhangu has a unique perspective 鈥� his family owns a trucking company, and he has experience managing a fleet of vehicles himself.
"Instead of going to the extreme of surveillance, there should be an attempt at making a better process, and this government hasn't done that," Bhangu said.
Bhangu said that many high-volume tucking companies track their vehicles to streamline operations, but many smaller firms 鈥� his included 鈥� do not.
His strategy is to track mileage and distances to ensure employees are where they are supposed to be and aren't driving extra kilometres. According to Chalke's report, the government does not appear to have these sorts of mechanisms in place.
Since the complaint about the CVSE officer, the agency began using a tracking app called SafetyAware to track worker locations. But this can be turned on or off by the user, and is not connected to the vehicle.
There are many other parts of this tender unrelated to GPS tracking, including the requirement that the chosen contractor support provincial goals in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through an increase in the use of zero-emission vehicles.
Bhangu is also concerned about this plan, pointing out questions surrounding whether federal and provincial electric vehicle mandates are achievable. Before steps are taken to buy a bunch of B.C. government electric vehicles, he wants to ensure the necessary charging infrastructure is in place first.
"I'm all for innovation using less emission vehicles, but we need to make sure that we are set up properly to pull the program out and have it succeed and not be another hit on taxpayers," he said.
