Current status: OPEN
Open on February 13, 2025 and closing on April 14, 2025.
Transport Canada regulates the safety of motor vehicles and equipment to keep Canadian roads safe. Vehicle manufacturers and importers must certify that all new imported vehicles, or vehicles made in one province and sold in another, comply with Canada’s safety regulations and standards.
The Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (MVSR) were updated in In February 2020. During this update, the prescribed class “restricted-use motorcycle” was changed and renamed to “restricted-use vehicle”. The definition for “restricted-use vehicle” now includes more types of vehicles. This change means that some vehicles that didn’t need a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) now need one.
While these requirements don’t pose a problem for Canadian manufacturers, some foreign manufacturers can’t get a World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI), a 3-character code which they need to generate a VIN. This is particularly an issue for off-road vehicles, like restricted-use vehicles and snowmobiles. In place of a VIN, products in other markets often use a Product Identification Number (PIN). Like the VIN, the PIN is an identifier that is unique for every vehicle made, which is needed for tasks like registering a vehicle and issuing safety recalls.
In the hopes of solving some of the challenges that some manufacturers have getting a WMI, Transport Canada is considering updating the MVSR to allow either a PIN or a VIN for both restricted-use vehicles and snowmobiles. We want your feedback on this idea.
Transport Canada is holding another consultation on the subject to
- make sure that stakeholders still support using PINs for restricted-use vehicles
- assess whether stakeholders also support allowing the use of PINs for snowmobiles, and
- assess support on Transport Canada’s plan to make these changes by publishing the amendment directly in the Canada Gazette Part II with a coming into force immediately upon publication.
We want to hear from you
We want to hear from stakeholders and the Canadian public. Your feedback is important! Please provide your feedback on 4 questions located in the background document.
Reference documents
Background information and rationale
How to participate
All Canadians and stakeholders can email feedback to us until April 14, 2025.
Privacy Notice
The personal information you provide to Transport Canada will be collected by the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulatory Framework sub-program under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, subsection 20(1), and handled in accordance with the Privacy Act.
Why are we collecting your personal information?
Your personal information is collected for the purpose of gathering stakeholder and public feedback for consideration on potential regulatory amendments to the regulations under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
Will we use or share your personal information for any other reason?
Your feedback will be de-identified and published on the Canada Gazette website if we make regulatory amendments, as required under the Treasury Board Secretariat Cabinet Directive on Regulation.
What happens if you don’t want to provide your personal information?
Participation in this survey is on a voluntary basis. There is no requirement to provide your personal information.
What are your rights?
You have the right to request for access to, and correction of, your personal information. You also have a right to complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you feel your personal information has been handled improperly. For more information about these rights, or about how we handle your personal information, please contact the regulationsclerk-asfb-commisauxreglements@tc.gc.ca.
For more information
The collection of your personal information is described in Info Source. Refer to the personal information bank PSU 938 – Outreach Activities.
Contact us
Mail:
Standards and Regulations, Road Safety and Vehicle Regulations (ASFBE)
Transport Canada
Tower C, Place de Ville
330 Sparks St
Ottawa ON K1A 0N5
Toll-free telephone: 1-866-995-9737
Local telephone: 613-990-2309
TTY: 1-888-675-6863
Fax: 613-954-4731
Email: RegulationsClerk-ASFB-Commisauxreglements@tc.gc.ca and include “Consultation - Product Identification Numbers” in the subject line.