Transport Canada Vehicle Exemption Pursuant to Section 9 of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act - MVSA 2022-1

Section 9 of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act provides the Minister of Transport with the authority to grant an exemption for a specific period, in accordance with any conditions specified in the order  for any model of vehicle manufactured or imported by the company from the conformity with any standard if the requested exemption from that standard would, in the opinion of the Minister promote the development of either new safety features that are equivalent to or superior to those that conform to prescribed standards, or new kinds of vehicles, technologies, vehicle systems or components.

Whereas the purpose of this exemption is to allow Nova Bus Inc. (Nova Bus) to replace exterior rear view mirrors with a video camera based system.

Whereas I have concluded from the information provided in the application that the exemption from the requirements set out in subsections 111 (1), (3), (4) and (27) of Schedule IV to the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations would promote the development of new safety features that are equivalent to or superior to those that conform to prescribed standards.

Whereas this exemption would not substantially diminish the overall safety performance of the vehicle model.

Therefore pursuant to section 9 of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, I hereby make this Nova Bus Inc. Exemption Order.

Nova Bus Inc. Exemption Order

The vehicle models listed below, manufactured or imported by Nova Bus, are exempt from the requirements set out in subsections 111 (1), (3), (4) and (27) of Schedule IV of the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations subject to the following conditions:

  • Nova Bus shall ensure the exempted vehicle models are equipped with the camera monitoring system, Smart-Vision CMS from Vision Systems.
  • Nova Bus shall provide an annual incident report. The report must be in writing, in either paper or electronic form and in the company's official language of choice. Reporting will begin on March 30, 2023. The report must be filed with Transport Canada at ComplianceEngineering-Essaisdequipements@tc.gc.ca and contain the following information:
    • a description of the nature of all exterior camera system malfunctions and/or failures, both hardware and software, including the causes, and a description of the location of the malfunction
    •  whether a notice of defect has been issued regarding an exterior camera system malfunction and the recall number issued by the Minister of Transport
    • the vehicle systems or components that may be affected by the exterior camera system malfunctions and/or failures, both hardware and software
    • a description of the corrective measures to be taken in respect of the camera system malfunctions and/or failures, both hardware and software and how they are to be implemented, including a general description of the work involved.

List of exempted vehicles

  • Nova Bus LFS
  • Nova Bus LFS Artic

Validity

This exemption is in effect until March 30, 2025 at 23:59 EST.

Dated 30th of March, 2022

Melanie Vanstone
Acting Director General
Multi-modal and Road Safety Programs

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