Frequently asked questions regarding non-compliant motorcycles and mopeds/scooters

To determine whether a vehicle is covered by Ministerial Order 2024-15⁠ ⁠ (prohibition from putting non-compliant motorcycles and mopeds/scooters into operation on a public road), you must check whether it matches the criteria provided in that Order. To do so, we suggest you follow these 3 steps.

Step 1: Basic characteristics

The first step is to check whether the vehicle matches the 3 following criteria:

• It has 2 or 3 wheels.
• It has the appearance of a motorcycle or a moped/scooter.
• It does not bear the Transport Canada compliance label or a national safety mark (see the section titled “Details regarding the compliance label”). 

If the vehicle matches these 3 criteria, you must then move onto the next step to determine whether it is covered by the prohibition from road use.  

Step 2: Technical characteristics

The second step is to check whether the vehicle has any of the 4 following characteristics:

• It is equipped with footrests or a platform for the driver’s feet.
• It is equipped with a set of tires and wheels that has the appearance of that of a motorcycle or moped/scooter.
• It is equipped with a body that partly or completely covers its frame or some of its components and does not have a height-adjustable saddle.
• It is equipped with an engine that makes it possible to reach speeds of over 32 km/h or has a power rating greater than 500 watts.

If the vehicle does not have any of these characteristics, it is not subject to the prohibition.
If it has at least one, it is subject to the prohibition from road use, unless it belongs to one of the exemption categories presented in Step 3.

Step 3: Exemption categories

Even if they have the 3 basic characteristics listed in Step 1 and at least one of the characteristics listed in Step 2, the following vehicles are not subject to the prohibition from road use:

• •Motorcycles and mopeds/scooters manufactured before January 1, 1971. Before that date, there were no motor vehicle certification requirements in Canada.
• Motorcycles and mopeds/scooters that bear a safety certification mark from the United States or Mexico.
• •Motorcycles and mopeds/scooters manufactured 15 years ago or earlier that bear a safety certification mark from a country other than the United States or Mexico. 
  • For example, this exemption applies to a 15-year-old motorcycle that was imported from Germany in accordance with the rules established by Transport Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency.
• Hand-crafted motorcycles authorized by the SAAQ. 
  • These vehicles must have successfully completed every step in the following procedure: Registering a hand-crafted vehicle.
• Off-road vehicles.
• Motorized mobility aids, such as 3-wheeled electric scooters and motorized wheelchairs, as well as vehicles authorized for use on public roads as part of the pilot project concerning the use of motorized personal mobility devices, such as electric scooters and gyroscopic vehicles. 

Details regarding the compliance label

The compliance label is affixed at a visible location on the vehicle by the manufacturer at the factory. It is usually on the vehicle’s frame. It displays either the maple leaf representing the national safety mark⁠ ⁠, if the vehicle was manufactured in Canada, or the following sentence, if the vehicle was manufactured elsewhere:

“THIS VEHICLE CONFORMS TO ALL APPLICABLE STANDARDS PRESCRIBED UNDER THE CANADIAN MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY REGULATIONS IN EFFECT ON THE DATE OF MANUFACTURE/CE VÉHICULE EST CONFORME À TOUTES LES NORMES QUI LUI SONT APPLICABLES EN VERTU DU RÈGLEMENT SUR LA SÉCURITÉ DES VÉHICULES AUTOMOBILES DU CANADA EN VIGUEUR À LA DATE DE
SA FABRICATION”.

This label also displays other mandatory information, such as:

• the vehicle’s 17-character vehicle identification number (VIN);
• the date of manufacture;
• the vehicle manufacturer’s full name;
• the type of vehicle:
  • In the case of a moped/scooter, the type is LSM/MVL to indicate the “Limited Speed Motorcycle”/“Motocyclette à vitesse limitée” category.
  • In the case of a motorcycle, the type is MC to indicate “Motorcycle”/“Motocyclette”.

Finally, it should be noted that the Transport Canada certification process which a manufacturer must have a vehicle undergo in order to have a compliance label or national safety mark affixed only applies to new vehicles. A used vehicle can therefore not be certified. 

To give you a better understanding of the situation, here are the main reasons the government decided to prohibit these vehicles from road use:

• Given the high mass of these vehicles and the speeds they can reach, they represent a risk for vulnerable road users travelling along sidewalks and bike paths. The SAAQ and the Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable also discovered how easy it is to unlock the maximum speed for a large proportion of these vehicles, which many people have done, thereby elevating the risk for the vulnerable road users around them. The government has received many requests from the general public and organizations to solve this problem.
• These vehicles do not have any certification of compliance with Transport Canada standards. This means their manufacturers have not demonstrated that these vehicles are safe when they are operated on the roadway and blend with traffic, as required under Canadian law. These vehicles therefore represent a risk for the individuals who use them if they operate them on the roadway.

The Ministerial Order also aims to be consistent with:

• Transport Canada rules that prohibit imports of such vehicles. A federal court judgment for at least 2 models is available online: Kolo Scooter Inc. v. Canada (Transports) – Federal Court (fct-cf.gc.ca)⁠ ⁠;
• the Highway Safety Code, which prohibits the sale or lease of such vehicles when they are new, as they do not bear any labels or marks certifying their compliance with motor vehicle safety standards;
• the obligations of owners and drivers of compliant motorcycles and mopeds/scooters who meet these obligations, particularly regarding vehicle registration, insurance, driver’s licences and traffic rules and regulations.

Yes, motorcycles or mopeds/scooters with a power rating greater than 500 watts that bear a compliance label or a national safety mark may be registered for road use. It should be noted, however, that power-assisted bikes with a power rating greater than 500 watts are not authorized for use on public roads.

The Ministerial Order that came into force on July 30, 2024 applies to vehicles that have the appearance of motorcycles or mopeds/scooters and does not apply to 3- or 4-wheeled electric scooters or electric wheelchairs, which are motorized mobility aids (MMAs). These mobility aids are governed by a ministerial order issued by the Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable (MTMD).

If your MMA complies with the MTMD’s requirements, you may still use it.

For any questions regarding MMAs, please contact the MTMD.

No, an actual bicycle that is equipped with an electric motor is a power-assisted bicycle. A power-assisted bicycle must have a maximum power rating of no more than 500 watts and a maximum speed of 32 km/h or less to be authorized for use on a public roadway. A bicycle equipped with a 1,000-watt motor is still considered a bicycle, but is not authorized for use on a public road, including roadways and bike paths. For more information, refer to the webpage titled On an Electric Bike .  

If the vehicle is a motorcycle or a moped/scooter and it bears the compliance label or a national safety mark, it must be registered for road or off-road use. If the vehicle does not bear these certification marks, it cannot be registered.

The label bearing CE certification is not sufficient to determine whether a vehicle complies with Canadian motor vehicle safety standards. If this is the only certification label found on the vehicle, it may be prohibited from road use. To be sure, read the answer to the first question: “How can I determine whether my vehicle is covered by the prohibition from being operated on a public road?”

A motorcycle or a moped/scooter that is 15 years old or older that bears a compliance label to show the vehicle complies with the European motor vehicle safety standards that apply to motorcycles and mopeds/scooters can be registered as with any other vehicle imported from Europe. The owner must follow the import rules set by Transport Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency. The vehicle will also be required to have its mechanical condition checked by an SAAQ road vehicle inspection agent and meet the established standards

It is not possible to draw up a list of all the models covered by the Order. There are many models and they can be sold under different names, at the manufacturer’s discretion. They can also be sold on various websites and be shipped from overseas, which makes it nearly impossible to account for all of them. In addition, some manufacturers may decide to certify their new vehicles in accordance with Transport Canada standards in the future, which would potentially make the list inaccurate over time. Finally, in order to add vehicle models covered by a prohibition from road use to an official list, each model would have to be inspected individually, in particular to confirm the absence of a compliance label.

The Canadian motor vehicle safety standards set the minimum criteria with which motor vehicles must comply. For example, in the case of the various categories of motorcycles, these could apply to:

• braking standards, in particular with regard to the maximum distances that must not be exceeded during emergency braking;
• brake components;
• lighting devices and reflectors;
• mirrors and rear visibility systems;
• tire selection;
• the vehicle identification number (VIN);
• controls and displays;
• windows;
• certain protection devices in the event of a frontal collision;
• vehicle stability, in the case of 3-wheeled vehicles;
• fuel system integrity for vehicles that run on fuel.

A manufacturer that certifies a vehicle affixes a compliance label to that vehicle. Manufacturers or anyone who imports a vehicle that does not bear such a label does not comply with the regulations and it cannot be concluded that the vehicle is safe.

A vehicle may have the mandatory equipment, but this equipment may not comply with the applicable requirements. For example, a headlight may be installed on the vehicle, but its lighting pattern may fail to meet the minimum performance criteria.

The Canada Border Services Agency prohibits imports of new vehicles that do not bear a certification label indicating compliance with federal motor vehicle safety standards.

Link to the Canadian motor vehicle safety standards: Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038) (Canada.ca)⁠ ⁠

There are no provisions for financial compensation for owners of vehicles covered by the Ministerial Order. As was mentioned above, these vehicles were already under an import prohibition by Transport Canada and prohibited for sale or lease under the Highway Safety Code. They should not have ended up in the hands of consumers in the first place.

For any questions about reimbursements or financial compensation, please contact the Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC).

If your vehicle is covered by the Order, you must not drive it on public roads because, although it is registered, operating it on these roads is prohibited. If you do so, you are liable to a fine of $300 to $600. 

If your vehicle is covered by the Order and already registered, you will receive a letter explaining how to cancel the registration. Considering that the vehicles covered by the Order are seasonal vehicles, the insurance contribution rate is established based on the months they are in use. Owners of these types of vehicles are not entitled to a reimbursement for the period from October to March because their vehicle is no longer in use during this time. Considering that you did not cancel your vehicle registration before this period, you are not eligible for a reimbursement.