Queen’s Park has launched an investigation into Volkswagen Canada and Audi Canada over the international scandal involving the companies’ diesel cars.

“The actions taken by Volkswagen Canada and Audi Canada are unacceptable,” Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Glen Murray said Wednesday

“We want to make sure the right steps are taken to remedy this situation in a way that is easy for Ontarians, and ensures the province’s emissions standards are met,” said Murray, whose department runs the mandatory DriveClean emissions testing program.

The minister said Volkswagen and its sister company Audi are being investigated for selling turbodiesel cars with computer software that bypass the vehicle’s emissions control.

That software can trick emission testing when the car is stationary, and switches off emissions control systems during normal driving, which results in better performance – and nitrogen oxide emissions exceeding standards by up to 40 times.

There are about 35,000 of the affected 2009-2015 Volkswagen Golf, Jetta, Beetle, and Passat 2-litre TDI models and turbodiesel Audi A3s in Ontario.

While the company has promised a software patch or recall of 11 million vehicles worldwide, provincial officials are concerned some owners will not voluntarily bring in their cars to dealers for the fix.

That’s because the vehicles may not go as fast or be as fuel efficient once the repair has been done.

To counter that, Murray’s ministry has the power not renew the licence registration for owners of Volkwagens and Audis who do not provide proof that their diesels have been cleaned up.

Ontario’s strict Environmental Protection Act prohibits the sale of vehicles that do not meet emissions standards, meaning the government has the power to keep new and used TDIs off the roads.

Murray said when Volkswagen and Audi “have identified an Ontario-specific solution to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, they will be expected to take action to ensure impacted vehicles are in compliance while minimizing any inconvenience and costs to owners.”

Audi Canada spokesman Cort Neilsen said there are fewer than 1,800 affected A3s across the country.

Two weeks ago, Volkswagen Canada stopped selling all TDI models after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exposed the elaborate ruse.

The company said it was working with officials stateside and at its parent corporation in Germany “to seek a resolution to the issues brought forth in the EPA notice.”

“We are implementing numerous temporary measures to limit customer inconvenience and facilitate a clear and timely flow of information,” the firm said Sept. 22.

Volkswagen has said up to 11 million vehicles worldwide across several of its brands contain the diesel engine with the software used to cheat on U.S. emissions tests. CEO Matthias Mueller told the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: “It will hopefully be fewer, but in any case still far too many.”

“If everything goes as planned, we can start the recall in January,” he said. “All the cars should be in order by the end of 2016.”

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Volkswagen Canada said no details are available about when the recalls will begin Canada. “There is still a lot that needs to be done, including figuring out exactly where the issue lies and the best solution to that problem,” VW Canada spokesman Thomas Tetzlaff said Wednesday.

So far, the company has placed a complete stop-sale order in Canada on all affected vehicles, including the Golf, Jetta, Beetle and Passat models.