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, follow Canada’s safety regulations and standards.
Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (CMVSS) 208 includes requirements for frontal impact occupant protection. It references Technical Standard Document (TSD) 208 for technical requirements. TSD 208 copies the U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208 as much as possible.
On August 22, 2024, the U.S. published a final rule that updated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, “Occupant Crash Protection.” This updated the lists of child restraints systems that can be used to test how advanced air bag suppression and low risk deployment systems perform with a child restraint system. The existing list included some old child restraint systems that aren’t available anymore or don’t represent current models.
On January 3, 2025, the U.S. published another final rule that further updated FMVSS 208. This updated requirements for seat belt reminders at the driver’s position. It also added new requirements for seat belt reminders in other front and rear seats.
The final rule added an update to stop annoying warnings during lower risk situations, like idling in traffic. It will still warn drivers when the danger of a serious crash is higher. It also adds new requirements for seat belt status warnings for rear seats. This includes warnings for start-of-trip (buckled or unbuckled) and change-of-status (buckling or unbuckling while the vehicle is running).
Both U.S. final rules allow companies to use the old or new requirements until September 1, 2026. In the U.S. on that date, the new requirements would become mandatory. However, a new Interim Final Rule published on April 6, 2026 changed some of the seat belt reminder requirements. It also aligned the mandatory compliance dates for front and rear seat belt reminders, meaning full compliance will now be required by September 1, 2028. Stakeholders may want to start following the new requirements as soon as possible because they’re already changing things to meet these new requirements in the U.S.
In Canada, TC is proposing changes to TSD 208 that will make sure that the child restraint systems we use to test advanced air bags represent the current market. It will make it easier for vehicle manufacturers and labs to get child restraint systems for testing.
The proposed changes will also help reduce the number of unbelted occupants by adding a warning for every seat when someone doesn’t buckle their seat belt. It also improves the reminder for the drivers' position.
TC does not intend to copy the text about the phase-in schedule of the requirements. We would also leave out repeated sections related about the phase-in schedule, including Table A in the final rule. Table A is a list of old child seats that can still be used during the phase-in period.
On top of these large changes, we want to make minor edits to make the standard easier to read and understand. We propose to:
- align section numbering
- remove outdated references to automatic seat belts
- correct misaligned units in several figures, and
- correct minor translations errors between the English and French versions
Under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, a TSD can have both an effective date and a mandatory compliance date. Our plan is for the new updated version of TSD 208 to become effective on the day it’s published. We’re proposing a mandatory compliance date of September 1, 2028. This matches the compliance date proposed in the U.S. Interim Final Rule for seat belt reminders. It’s meant to give companies enough time to update their vehicle production.
Once it takes effect, companies can meet the requirements of either the old (current revision 2) or the new version (proposed revision 3) of TSD 208 until the mandatory compliance date for the new revision. After that date, companies must follow the new revision.
We’re holding a consultation to get feedback on the changes we’re considering for TSD 208. We want comments on whether the mandatory compliance date will give stakeholders enough time to fully update their vehicle production.
Reference documents
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Proposed TSD 208Request a copy - Proposed TSD 208
How to participate
- All Canadians and stakeholders can email feedback to us until July 26, 2026
- Email feedback to us at RegulationsClerk-ASFB-Commisauxreglements@tc.gc.ca and include “Consultation – Updating Technical Standards Document 208” in the subject line
Key questions for discussion
- Does a mandatory compliance date of September 1, 2028 give companies enough time to update their vehicle production to meet the new requirements?
- A new Interim Final Rule published on April 6, 2026 changed some of the seat belt reminder requirements. Should Transport Canada include these changes to sections 7.5(b)(1)(v), 7.5(2)(ii), 7.5(c)(2) and 7.5(c)(3)(iv)) in the revised TSD?
Related information
- Motor Vehicle Safety Act
- Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, “Occupant Crash Protection”
- Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash Protection, Seat Belt Reminder Systems, Controls and Displays
- Federal Register: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash Protection, Seat Belt Reminder Systems
- Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash Protection, Seat Belt Reminder Systems
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Email: RegulationsClerk-ASFB-Commisauxreglements@tc.gc.ca
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