• Canada’s operating authority process varies greatly from the U.S. process.
• Transport Canada, the federal transportation agency in that nation, has assigned its authority to Canadian jurisdictions as part of deregulation at the provincial level.

Operating authority in Canada is obtained through a process much different than that in the United States. In the United States, a carrier wishing to obtain federal operating authority applies to the U.S. Department of Transportation, a federal entity.

In Canada, however, the federal transportation agency, Transport Canada, does not issue a federal operating authority. Transport Canada has delegated its authority to the Canadian jurisdictions through the Motor Vehicle Transport Act and the Motor Carrier Safety Fitness Certificate Regulations. All provinces have deregulated private and for-hire property-carrying motor carriers regarding operating authority. Instead, a carrier must obtain a “safety fitness certificate” from the base jurisdiction as the “authority” to operate on Canadian roads. Safety fitness certificate requirements apply to:

• Trucks, tractors, or trailers, or any combination of these vehicles, that have a registered gross vehicle weight exceeding 4,500 kilograms; or
• Buses that are designed, constructed, and used for transportation of passengers and that have a designated seating capacity of more than 10 persons, including the driver, if they are operated for purposes other than personal use.

The safety fitness certificate allows a jurisdiction to track the safety performance of carriers on Canadian roads. With this certificate from the base province, an interprovincial carrier can operate throughout Canada. The absence of operating authority within the provinces (for private and for-hire property-carrying operators) does not absolve a carrier from complying with other requirements such as the International Registration Plan (IRP), the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA), or other provincial requirements, as applicable.