After extensive industry consultation and after more than two years of waiting, the Regulations Amending the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations ("Regulations") were published on June 12 in the Canada Gazette. Canada Part II, which will be effective from June 2021.

This Federal Regulation introduces, among other things, the requirement for road carriers operating an extra-provincial company to provide each of their vehicles with a compliant electronic recording device ("ECD").

DCE means a device or certified technology that automatically records a driver's driving hours and facilitates the recording of their activity reports. To ensure compliance, Transport Canada will make available to the public a list of certified suppliers and DCEs.

As a general rule, it will therefore be mandatory for all commercial motor carrier vehicles to be equipped with a DCE that meets the requirements of the Technical Standard for Electronic Storage Devices issued by the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators.
The DCE shall be located in a prominent position of the driver. The Federal Regulations also provide for certain exceptions, such as for vehicles rented for a short period of time for a period not exceeding 30 days or vehicles with a model year before 2000.

For those carriers who already have an electronic logbook compliant with US standards, please note that Transport Canada has harmonized the new Canadian standards with those of the US to allow you to legally use your devices.

As for carriers whose operations are only in Quebec, the Quebec Automobile Insurance Company ("SAAQ") informed us of its desire to make the use of the DCE mandatory. To this end, the SAAQ is continuing its work on its Regulation respecting hours of driving and rest for heavy vehicle drivers to include provisions making the use of a DCE mandatory.
A consultation with the industry will begin in the fall of 2019 to present the guidelines that will guide the regulatory amendment. To this end, the Federation of Bus Transporters will be invited to provide comments. The SAAQ wants its by-law amended and implemented in early summer 2021.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Legal Services Branch at legal@federationautobus.com or by phone at 418-476-8181.