Background information on the Safety Fitness Regulations and Motor Carrier Safety Ratings, and Carrier Data Exchange
Safety Fitness Regulations / Safety Rating System
Under the Constitution Act, the Parliament of Canada has exclusive jurisdiction to regulate the bus and truck motor carriers that transport goods or passengers across provincial or territorial boundaries or the international border with the United States. The provincial and territorial (PT) governments have jurisdiction over those motor carriers that operate exclusively within their own jurisdiction. While both levels of government regulate bus and truck operations, they do not regulate the same motor carriers, so while they codify the exact same subject matter, there is no overlap in who they regulate.
Both levels of government regulate in accordance with the National Safety Code (NSC) for Motor Carriers, which contains 16 standards that cover all aspects related to motor carrier oversight and approved by the Ministers of Transportation and Highway Safety. The Transport Canada oversight regime is focused on four of these standards: Hours of Service, Safety Ratings, Carrier Profiles and Facility Audits. The Safety Rating, Carrier Profile and Facility Audit Standards work collectively to form the safety fitness framework, which is codified in the federal Motor Vehicle Transport Act (MVTA) https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/M-12.01/ and the Motor Carrier Safety Fitness Certification Regulations (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2005-180/index.html).
The provinces and territories administer and enforce the federal rules in accordance with the MVTA and its regulations, which authorizes jurisdictions to issue licences, known as safety fitness certificates (SFCs), to federally regulated motor carriers in accordance with the MVTA and the Regulation. The PTs apply these same standards to the licensing of their own motor carriers. The federal SFCs are accepted reciprocally by every other PT, thereby creating a nationally consistent oversight regime for all federally regulated motor carriers. This current regime was implemented in the 1980s after much effort from the federal, provincial, and territorial governments.
Under the safety fitness framework, a motor carrier is issued an NSC number by the PT where their home terminal is based (e.g. home jurisdiction or carrier base), and a carrier profile is created. Over time, the profile is populated with critical safety event data related to commercial driver and vehicle inspections, collisions, and convictions. Safety data occurring in PTs other than the carrier’s base or home jurisdiction, are sent to the home jurisdiction via the Carrier Data Exchange and added to the motor carrier’s profile. A computer algorithm is used to compare the safety record in the profile against that of other similar sized carriers (fleet size total fleet kilometers driven). Regulatory interventions (letters, meetings, hearings, facility audits), rating changes or sanctions occur with those motor carriers that have the worst safety records. Carriers that fail to improve their safety record can be issued an unsatisfactory rating, which can result in their operations being shut down, and the carrier ceases to operate.
Carrier Data Exchange
Federal and Provincial/Territorial governments work through the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) to establish and update National Code Standard (NSC) 7, which is a framework for a carrier’s record and the ability to review current and past performance, also known as the carrier Profile system. NSC 7 also calls for inter-jurisdictional exchange of information.
The Profile System encompasses a wide range of components from carrier demographics, conviction information, reportable accident information, inspection information, audit results and monitoring activity and information on the legal entity. The carrier Profile system is specific to safety and does not include information on labour or tax compliance.
In 2024, the Council of Ministers for Transportation and Highway Safety (COMT) directed the CCMTA to analyze the challenges with the current model for safety certificates and identify potential options to address the issue of carriers with problematic safety records (i.e., ghost/chameleon carriers). In response to the COMT direction, the CCMTA established a national committee of provincial and territorial auditors and investigators to share information on their efforts to identify and address chameleon carriers, and to share best practices. The CCMTA is currently completing a review of NSC 7 – Carrier and Driver Profiles, NSC 14 – Safety Rating, and NSC 15 – Facility Audits. The review will identify amendments to the Standards to ensure more robust oversight.
Currently, provinces and territories leverage the CCMTA Carrier Data Exchange (CDE) system to access information on motor carriers that are registered in another jurisdiction. Work is underway with jurisdictions to ensure they have more robust and timelier national carrier data by enhancing and optimizing the CCMTA CDE system.
CCMTA is on track to deliver on this work and present revised NSC Standards 7 and 15 for Ministerial approval in February 2026, and a revised NSC Standard 14 for Ministerial approval in September 2026. These efforts by F/P/T governments, through the CCMTA, will help strengthen safety and internal trade, remove barriers and help address driver misclassification issues.