FEDERAL SAFETY STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS

While the responsibility for promulgating motor carrier safety legislation in Canada generally falls on theprovincial governments, the Federal government has provided some guidance in the areas of hours of servicedangerous goods transportation, vehicle conspicuity markings, and safety fitness.

Under the Motor Vehicle Transport Act, 1987, hours of service regulations were passed to restrict the hoursthat a driver can spend driving or on duty, and to require daily recordkeeping in the absence of provinciallegislation. The Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations were updated on November 15,1994, November 16, 2005 (new rule effective January 1, 2007), and again on November 28, 2009.

Effective January 10, 1997, an amendment to the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations put a newstandard in place. The Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) 108 covered revisions in lightingrequirements for commercial vehicles, especially conspicuity markings, identification lights, and brakelamps. The most substantive changes were the new requirements for heavy trailers to have reflective markingsand for light trucks and multipurpose passenger vehicles to have centre high-mounted stop lights.

Dangerous goods regulations, on the other hand, were implemented to consolidate a number of previouslyuncoordinated and separately administered acts and regulations. The Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act,1992, is an Act to promote public safety in the transportation of dangerous goods.

On January 1, 2006, Transport Canada’s Motor Carrier Safety Fitness Certificate Regulations went intoeffect. Extraprovincial carriers are required to obtain a safety fitness certificate from their base-platedprovince in order to operate on Canadian roads.