National Safety Code standards

Scope

The NSC applies to those operating commercial vehicles, trailers, trucks, and buses on Canadian roads.

Regulatory citations

• None

Key definitions

• National Safety Code (NSC): A set of safety and administrative standards developed and maintained by the CCMTA.

Summary of requirements

While motor carriers and drivers in all Canadian jurisdictions must adhere to the NSC, the standards are not regulations. The CCMTA and jurisdictional enforcement do not enforce the NSC. In order for the jurisdictions to enforce the standards, the jurisdictions must first incorporate the NSC standards into their respective acts and regulations. The jurisdictions are not required to adopt the NSC standards verbatim or by reference (although they may) but instead they use the standards as a guide when developing the regulations. This method of implementation allows for jurisdictional differences between transportation safety regulations across Canada. However, the basic principle of the safety standards is the same — to prevent accidents, injuries, and deaths on Canadian roads.

If new issues surface, or if there are circumstances in which the standards could be more effective, the CCMTA will periodically update the standards. Again, the changes are not enforceable by the jurisdictions until the jurisdiction updates the corresponding acts and/or regulations.

The National Safety Code standards are available for no charge on the CCMTA website.

The National Safety Code is comprised of the following 16 standards:

• Standard 1: Single driver’s licence concept. This standard, which is the responsibility of the various provincial licensing departments, makes it a national offence for a driver to hold more than one licence in Canada. It has been implemented in all provinces to ensure that driving violations are assigned to a single licence.
• Standard 2: Knowledge and performance tests (drivers), updated January 2020*. In an effort to standardize the testing of commercial vehicle drivers throughout Canada, this standard sets out the testing procedures to be used by government examiners and the key points that should be evaluated during a driver’s road test. While carriers generally do not have any specific requirements under this standard, they are required to maintain licence renewal and upgrade information for all of their drivers.
• Standard 3: Driver examiner training program, January 2020*. Industry concern over the competency of government driver examiners led to the development of the Examiner Training Program, which is designed to increase the skills and knowledge of the examiners and ensure that they are trained to identical performance levels. Neither drivers nor carriers have any added responsibilities under this program.
• Standard 4: Classified driver licensing system, January 2020. This standard was created with the intention of standardizing the Canadian classification and endorsement system for driver’s licences. Although all provinces require drivers to hold a licence which matches the type of vehicle being driven, complete uniformity has not yet been accomplished particularly in the area of endorsements.
• Standard 5: Self certification standards and procedures*. The Self Certification Program allows carriers to train and upgrade their drivers’ skills to a higher licence classification. To qualify for this program, a carrier must employ a minimum of 50 professional drivers on a full time basis, have been in business for a minimum of 5 years, have an employee delegated with highway safety responsibility, and have an excellent highway safety record (additional information on the requirements of this program can be obtained by contacting the regulatory agency listed for each province).
• Standard 6: Determining Driver Fitness in Canada: Part 1, A Model for the Administration of Driver Fitness Programs and Part 2, CCMTA Medical Standards for Drivers, February 2021. The medical standards underwent a significant overhaul in September 2013. The standard was divided into two parts. Part 1 includes a model for the administration of driver fitness programs in the jurisdictions. The purpose of Part 1 is to facilitate a consistent approach to driver fitness decision-making by provincial and territorial government driver fitness authorities across Canada. Part 2 contains the medical standards for drivers, which was the original National Safety Code Standard 6.
• Standard 7: Driver and carrier profiles, November 2002. The Profile System was designed to provide the government with a record of each driver and carrier’s performance and be used as an enforcement mechanism to remove unsatisfactory drivers and carriers from service. Regulations detail the information that will be maintained for each driver and carrier.
• Standard 8: Short term suspension*. The Short Term Suspension Standard permits a peace officer to suspend a driver’s licence for a period of up to 24 hours where he/she has reasonable and probable grounds to believe that a driver’s ability to operate a motor vehicle is affected by alcohol, drugs, or fatigue. This standard does not prohibit a peace officer from prosecuting a driver under the Federal Criminal Code for a blood alcohol level in excess of .08 mg.
• Standard 9: Hours of service. To help reduce the number of accidents caused by driver fatigue, hours of service codes were passed to limit the time that a driver can spend driving or on duty and to require drivers to complete logs for each 24 hour period. Provincial requirements vary with regard to weekly caps, record retention periods, 60th parallel exceptions and exception permit availability.
  • NSC Standard 9 was updated in August 2010 to adopt the federal regulation with technical amendments. View the standard online.
  • An interpretation guide on the hours of service regulation is available online.
• Standard 10: Cargo securement, June 2013. These standards outline specific securement requirements for products such as coiled metal, miscellaneous metal articles, and logs and aggregates. The update in June 2013 added that friction mats must be marked with a working load limit if they are to be used as part of a cargo securement system. Other changes effective June 2013 included the re-implementation of securement for transverse rows of metal coils loaded side-by-side and intermodal container securement requirements.
• Standard 11: Commercial vehicle maintenance and inspection (PMVI) standards, January 2020. Under this standard, a carrier is required to establish a regular preventative maintenance program for all vehicles under its control. Regulations detail the minimum performance standards that a commercial motor vehicle must meet, as well as records that must be maintained regarding all inspection and maintenance activity.
  • The 2020 standard is available online.
• Standard 12: CVSA on-road inspections. The On-Road Inspection Program is an enforcement mechanism designed to measure the mechanical fitness of vehicles operated on both Canadian and U.S. highways. It enables inspectors to place drivers and vehicles out-of-service for failing to meet the criteria established by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.
• Standard 13: Trip inspections, March 2009. To protect drivers and alert carriers to mechanical problems, drivers are required to check their vehicles prior to the first trip of the day and prepare a report which lists any safety defects. Carriers are responsible for ensuring that all necessary repairs are made before the vehicle is driven.
  • The September 2008 amendments made minor changes and clarified the inspection schedules. The March 2009 amendments allowed carriers to modify inspection schedules, if necessary.
  • An interpretation guide on the pre-trip inspection standard is available online.
• Standard 14: Safety rating, August 2009. This standard establishes motor carrier safety ratings. Motor carriers apply for and obtain a safety rating based on the carrier’s accidents, safety violations and convictions, and safety audit results. Safety rating categories include satisfactory, satisfactory-unaudited, conditional, and unsatisfactory.
  • The amendment in September 2008 added that a reportable accident is one that results in an injury or death to a person, or property damage that either appears to be $1,000 or more or that requires any of the vehicles involved to be towed away from the scene. The amendment in August 2009 added a statement that it is the ultimate goal of the jurisdictions to adopt the definition of a reportable accident that focuses only on the tow-away criteria.
• Standard 15: Facility audit standards, December 2003. Audits are conducted to determine a carrier’s level of compliance with applicable safety standards. It consists of an in-depth examination of records and related source documents, interviews with personnel responsible for safety management, and an inspection of vehicles on site. Sanctions may be imposed for violations of the safety standards.
• Standard 16: Commercial Truck Driver Entry Level Training (Class 1), January 2021. A standard designed to ensure that Class 1 commercial truck drivers are properly and consistently trained before they are licensed.