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

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 In this Act,

company

company means a person

• (a) who is engaged in the business of manufacturing vehicles or equipment in Canada,

• (b) who is engaged in the business of selling to other persons, for the purpose of resale by those persons, vehicles or equipment obtained directly from a person described in paragraph (a) or the agent of such a person, or

• (c) who imports a vehicle or article of equipment into Canada for the purpose of sale; (entreprise)

equipment

equipment means any equipment set out in Schedule I that is designed for use in or on a vehicle; (équipement)

inspector

inspector means a person designated as an automotive inspector pursuant to section 14; (inspecteur)

manufacture

manufacture, in relation to a vehicle, includes any process of assembling or altering the vehicle prior to its sale to the first retail purchaser; (fabrication ou construction)

Minister

Minister means the Minister of Transport; (ministre)

national safety mark

national safety mark means the expression “Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard” or “Norme de sécurité des véhicules automobiles du Canada”, the abbreviation “CMVSS” or “NSVAC”, or the symbol set out in Schedule II; (marque nationale de sécurité)

prescribed

prescribed means prescribed by regulations made under section 11; (Version anglaise seulement)

sell

sell includes to offer for sale or lease, have in possession for sale or lease or deliver for sale or lease; (vente)

standard

standard means a standard that governs the design, construction, functioning or marking of vehicles or equipment for the purpose of reducing the risk of death, injury or property damage from vehicle use; (norme)

Tribunal

Tribunal means the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada established by subsection 2(1) of the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada Act; (Tribunal)

vehicle

vehicle means any vehicle that is capable of being driven or drawn on roads by any means other than muscular power exclusively, but does not include any vehicle designed to run exclusively on rails. (véhicule)

Exercise of Powers

Marginal note:Exercise of powers

2.1 The Minister may, in writing, authorize any person designated by the Minister to exercise any of the Minister’s powers and duties under this Act, either generally or as otherwise provided in the instrument of authorization.

Administrative Agreements

Marginal note:Administrative agreements

2.2 The Minister may enter into an agreement to further the purposes of this Act.

Contact Person

Marginal note:Contact person

2.3 A company designated by the Minister that applies a national safety mark to any vehicle or equipment, sells any vehicle or equipment to which a national safety mark has been applied or imports into Canada any vehicle or equipment of a class for which standards are prescribed is required to provide the Minister, for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act, with the contact information for a person for the purpose of correspondence.

National Safety Marks

Marginal note:National trademarks

• 3 (1) The national safety marks are hereby declared to be national trademarks and, except as provided in this Act, the exclusive property in and right to the use of those marks are vested in Her Majesty in right of Canada.

• Marginal note:Use of marks

  (2) A company authorized by the Minister, as provided for in the regulations, may apply a national safety mark to a vehicle or equipment, as provided for in the regulations.

• Marginal note:Provision of address

  (2.1) The company shall provide the Minister with the address of the premises at which the national safety mark is to be applied.

• Marginal note:Prohibition

  (3) No person shall use a national safety mark except as authorized by this Act.

• Marginal note:Confusing marks

  (4) No person shall use a mark other than a national safety mark in such a manner that it is likely to be mistaken for a national safety mark.

Marginal note:Interprovincial shipments

4 Except as otherwise provided by the regulations, no company shall ship from one province to another, or deliver to any person for the purpose of being so shipped, any vehicle or equipment of a prescribed class manufactured in Canada unless it has a national safety mark applied to it in accordance with section 3.

Vehicle and Equipment Requirements

Marginal note:Compliance by companies

• 5 (1) No company shall apply a national safety mark to any vehicle or equipment, sell any vehicle or equipment to which a national safety mark has been applied, or import into Canada any vehicle or equipment of a prescribed class unless

  • (a) the vehicle or equipment conforms to the standards prescribed for vehicles or equipment of its class at the time the main assembly of the vehicle was completed or the equipment was manufactured;

  • (b) evidence of that conformity has been obtained and produced as provided for in the regulations or, if the regulations so provide, to the Minister’s satisfaction;

  • (c) [Repealed, 1999, c. 33, s. 351]

  • (d) prescribed information is marked on the vehicle or equipment as provided for in the regulations;

  • (e) prescribed documentation or prescribed accessories accompany the vehicle or equipment as provided for in the regulations;

  • (f) prescribed information relating to the operation of the vehicle or equipment is disseminated as provided for in the regulations;

  • (g) records are maintained and furnished, as provided for in the regulations, in relation to the design, manufacture, testing and field performance of the vehicle or equipment, for the purpose of

    • (i) enabling an inspector to determine whether the vehicle or equipment conforms to all requirements applicable to it, and

    • (ii) facilitating the identification and analysis of defects referred to in subsection 10(1); and

  • (h) in the case of equipment, the company maintains, as provided for in the regulations, a registration system by which any person who has purchased equipment manufactured, imported or sold by the company and who wishes to be identified may be so identified.

• (2) [Repealed, 2014, c. 20, s. 216]

• Marginal note:Time of compliance

  (3) Unless otherwise provided by the regulations, a company may apply a national safety mark to, or import into Canada, a vehicle that does not satisfy a requirement of subsection (1) if that requirement is satisfied before the vehicle leaves the possession or control of the company and before the vehicle is presented for registration under the laws of a province.

• Marginal note:Certification by foreign agency

  (4) Where the regulations so provide in relation to a prescribed standard that corresponds to a prescribed enactment of a foreign government, a vehicle shall be deemed to conform to the standard if a prescribed agency of that government has certified that the vehicle conforms to the enactment as applied by the agency, unless the Minister determines that the vehicle does not conform to that enactment as so applied.

Marginal note:Compliance by all persons importing vehicles

6 No person shall import into Canada a vehicle of a prescribed class unless the requirements of paragraphs 5(1)(a), (b), (d) and (e) are satisfied in respect of the vehicle.

Marginal note:Exceptions for certain importations

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

  • (a) the person importing the vehicle or equipment makes a declaration in the prescribed form and manner that the vehicle or equipment will be used in Canada solely for purposes of exhibition, demonstration, evaluation or testing and will remain in Canada for not longer than one year or such other period as the Minister specifies in relation to the vehicle or equipment; 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: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 purchased in United States

  (2) Except as otherwise provided by the regulations, a vehicle that has been sold at the retail level in the United States and that fails to satisfy an applicable requirement of section 5 or 6 may be imported into Canada notwithstanding that section if the person importing the vehicle makes a declaration in the prescribed form and manner that, before the vehicle is presented for registration under the laws of a province, the vehicle

  • (a) will be made to conform to that requirement; and

  • (b) will be certified in the prescribed form and manner to so conform by such person as may be designated by the regulations.

• 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) No person who makes a declaration referred to in paragraph (1)(a) or subsection (2) in respect of a vehicle or equipment shall use or dispose of the vehicle or equipment in a manner contrary to the terms of that declaration.