Government of Canada / Gouvernement du Canada
Symbol of the Government of Canada

Search

Motor Vehicle Safety Act (S.C. 1993, c. 16)

Act current to 2024-04-01 and last amended on 2023-07-01. Previous Versions

Marginal note:Exceptions for certain importations

  •  (1) Sections 5 and 6 do not apply in respect of the importation of a vehicle or equipment if

    • (a) before the importation, the person importing the vehicle or equipment makes a declaration, as provided for in the regulations, that the vehicle or equipment

      • (i) will be used in Canada solely for a prescribed purpose,

      • (ii) will remain in Canada for a period of not more than one year or any other period that is specified by the Minister, and

      • (iii) meets or will meet any other prescribed requirement; or

    • (b) the vehicle or equipment is passing through Canada to another country or is exclusively for use by a visitor to Canada.

  • Marginal note:Export or destruction

    (1.01) A person who imports a vehicle or equipment under paragraph (1)(a) shall, as provided for in the regulations, export or destroy the vehicle or equipment before the end of the period referred to in subparagraph (1)(a)(ii).

  • Marginal note:Exception — donation

    (1.02) Despite subsection (1.01), a person who imports a vehicle under paragraph (1)(a) may, with the Minister’s approval, donate it as provided for in the regulations.

  • Marginal note:Exception — temporary importation

    (1.1) Sections 5 and 6 do not apply to a resident of Canada who imports a vehicle that is licensed in the United States if the vehicle is rented in the United States from a vehicle rental business and is being imported into Canada for non-commercial purposes.

  • Marginal note:Importer to remove vehicle from Canada

    (1.2) A resident of Canada who imports a vehicle under subsection (1.1) shall remove the vehicle from Canada within a period of 30 days, or any other prescribed period, beginning on the day on which the vehicle is imported.

  • Marginal note:Rental business to remove vehicle from Canada

    (1.3) If, within the period referred to in subsection (1.2), the resident of Canada delivers the vehicle to a vehicle rental business in Canada with the consent of the business, then the vehicle rental business shall remove the vehicle from Canada before the end of that period.

  • Marginal note:Subsection (1.2) does not apply

    (1.4) For greater certainty, if a vehicle rental business is required under subsection (1.3) to remove the vehicle from Canada, subsection (1.2) does not apply to the resident of Canada.

  • Marginal note:Regulations

    (1.5) The Governor in Council may make regulations

    • (a) respecting vehicles imported under subsection (1.1);

    • (b) respecting the importation or removal of vehicles under subsections (1.1) to (1.4); and

    • (c) defining, for the purposes of those subsections, any term used in them.

  • Marginal note:Vehicles from the United States or Mexico

    (2) Sections 5 and 6 do not apply to the importation of a vehicle that has been sold at the retail level in the United States or that is a prescribed vehicle from Mexico if

    • (a) the vehicle meets any prescribed requirements; and

    • (b) the person importing the vehicle makes a declaration, as provided for in the regulations, that the vehicle will be, before being presented for registration by a province and within the prescribed period,

      • (i) brought into compliance with any prescribed requirements, and

      • (ii) certified, as provided for in the regulations, as compliant with the requirements referred to in subparagraph (i) by the person designated in the regulations.

  • Marginal note:Importation for components

    (2.1) Sections 5 and 6 do not apply to the importation of a vehicle that has been sold at the retail level in the United States or that is a prescribed vehicle from Mexico if the person importing the vehicle makes a declaration, as provided for in the regulations, that the vehicle

    • (a) will not be presented for registration by a province;

    • (b) will be registered, as provided for in the regulations, by the person designated in the regulations; and

    • (c) will be dismantled for its components.

  • Marginal note:Change in standard since manufacture

    (3) A vehicle that does not conform to a standard prescribed for vehicles of its class at the time of its main assembly may be imported notwithstanding section 5 or 6 if, at the time of its importation, the standard is no longer in effect and

    • (a) the vehicle conforms to the corresponding standard prescribed for vehicles of its class at that time; or

    • (b) there is no corresponding standard at that time.

  • (4) [Repealed, 2014, c. 20, s. 217]

  • Marginal note:Declarations binding

    (5) A person who makes a declaration under this section shall comply with the declaration.

  • 1993, c. 16, s. 7
  • 2011, c. 24, s. 185
  • 2014, c. 20, s. 217

Date modified: