Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations (SOR/2005-313)
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Regulations are current to 2024-10-14 and last amended on 2021-06-12. Previous Versions
Scheduling — Driving North of Latitude 60°N (continued)
Cycle Switching — Off-duty Time
54 (1) No motor carrier shall request, require or allow a driver to switch and no driver shall switch from one cycle to the other without first taking the following off-duty time before beginning to drive again:
(a) to switch from cycle 1 to cycle 2, at least 36 consecutive hours; or
(b) to switch from cycle 2 to cycle 1, at least 72 consecutive hours.
(2) After taking the off-duty time, the driver begins the other cycle, the accumulated hours are set back to zero and the driver’s hours begin to accumulate again.
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Permits
Special Permits
61 (1) The federal director may issue a special permit to a motor carrier for the purpose of a research or pilot project if the safety and health of the public, the driver or the employees of the motor carrier are unlikely to be jeopardized.
(2) Sections 12 to 54 and 76 to 99 do not apply in respect of special permits.
(3) The applicant shall provide to the federal director a detailed work plan that includes at least the following information:
(a) the nature of the proposed research or pilot project;
(b) the objectives of the proposed research or pilot project;
(c) the competence of the applicant to participate in the proposed research or pilot project;
(d) the criteria and method for measuring results;
(e) the safety implications and the approach to addressing any possible risks identified;
(f) the duration of the proposed research or pilot project; and
(g) the manner of and timing for reporting results.
Permits for Commercial Vehicles Other than Oil Well Service Vehicles
62 (1) A provincial director may issue a permit to a motor carrier in respect of a commercial vehicle other than an oil well service vehicle if
(a) the safety and health of the public, the driver or the employees of the motor carrier are unlikely to be jeopardized; and
(b) a reduction of off-duty time or an increase in driving time is required
(i) to allow a driver following a regular itinerary to reach their home terminal or destination,
(ii) to allow the delivery of perishable goods, or
(iii) to accommodate a significant temporary increase in the transportation of passengers or goods by the motor carrier.
(2) The only deviations from the requirements of these Regulations that may be authorised in the permit are
(a) a reduction of the 2 hours of daily off-duty time required by subsection 14(3) if the commercial vehicle is driven south of latitude 60°N; and
(b) an increase in driving time and on-duty time of up to a total of 2 hours.
Oil Well Service Vehicle Permits
63 (1) A provincial director may issue a permit to a motor carrier in respect of an oil well service vehicle if
(a) the driver has successfully completed training directly related to safety requirements associated with operating within the field services sector of the oil or natural gas industry; and
(b) the safety and health of the public, the driver or the employees of the motor carrier are unlikely to be jeopardized.
(2) Sections 24 to 29 and 49 to 54 do not apply in respect of an oil well service vehicle permit, but instead the permit shall require that the driver take
(a) at least 3 periods of off-duty time, each at least 24 hours long, in any period of 24 days, the periods being taken consecutively or separated by on-duty time; and
(b) at least 72 consecutive hours of off-duty time after ending driving under the provisions of the permit and beginning driving under those sections.
(3) When the driver begins to drive again under sections 24 to 29 or 49 to 54, they begin to accumulate hours in the cycle.
(4) Waiting time and standby time at an oil or natural gas well site or ancillary facility shall not be included as on-duty time if
(a) the driver performs no work during the time;
(b) the time is fully and accurately recorded in the record of duty status as off-duty time and denoted as waiting or standby time; and
(c) the time is not included in the mandatory minimum of 8 consecutive hours of off-duty time.
(5) None of the daily off-duty time shall be deferred to the next day.
Applications for Permits
64 (1) A motor carrier may apply to a director for a permit by providing the following information and documents:
(a) the name of the motor carrier;
(b) the names of the drivers who drive a commercial vehicle for the motor carrier;
(c) the driver licence numbers of the drivers and the provinces of issuance;
(d) the list of the commercial vehicles operated by the motor carrier;
(e) a list of all accidents involving the motor carrier or any driver of the motor carrier that occurred during the 6 months before the date of the application if they are required by the laws of the province, state or country in which the accident occurred to be reported to the police;
(f) the requested duration of the permit;
(g) in the case of an extra-provincial truck undertaking, a detailed description of the load and the provinces in respect of which the permit is to apply;
(h) in the case of an extra-provincial bus undertaking, a detailed description of the routes in respect of which the permit is to apply;
(i) the requested schedule;
(j) the reasons for the application, with supporting evidence;
(k) a copy of every permit issued to the motor carrier under these Regulations in the previous 5 years; and
(l) a signed declaration that discloses any other application for a permit under these Regulations made by the motor carrier to any director within the 6 months before the date of the application.
(m) [Repealed, SOR/2019-165, s. 17]
(2) If requested by the director to do so, the motor carrier shall make available to the director the records of duty status, supporting documents or records of on-duty times, for the 6 months before the date of the application, of every driver who will drive a commercial vehicle of the motor carrier under the permit.
64.1 The director may, at any time after the application has been made, require an applicant to provide additional information in order for the director to evaluate whether the granting of a permit would be likely to jeopardize the safety or health of the public, the driver or the employees of the motor carrier.
Approval of Other Directors
65 (1) Before issuing a permit, a director shall obtain the written approval of the provincial directors of the provinces in which the commercial vehicle will be driven under the permit.
(2) A provincial director from whom approval is sought shall
(a) respond to the request for approval within 30 days after receiving it; and
(b) give their approval if they have no reason to believe that the safety or health of the public, the driver or the employees of the motor carrier would be likely to be jeopardized by the granting of the permit.
Issuance of Permits
66 A director who issues a permit shall specify in the permit
(a) the reasons for issuing it;
(b) its duration, which shall not exceed one year;
(c) any terms or conditions required for the protection of the safety or health of the public, the driver or the employees of the motor carrier; and
(d) the provinces in respect of which the permit is to apply.
Obligations of Permit Holders
67 (1) A motor carrier to whom a permit is issued shall
(a) provide the director with a list of the commercial vehicles that will be operated under the permit before undertaking any activity under the permit;
(a.1) ensure that a copy of the permit is placed in each commercial vehicle in respect of which it applies;
(b) keep the director informed of any changes to the list of the commercial vehicles that will be operated under the permit;
(c) make available for inspection by the director, on request, the records of duty status and the supporting documents of the drivers of the commercial vehicles in respect of which the permit applies; and
(d) notify the director without delay of any accident involving any of the commercial vehicles to which the permit applies if it is required by the laws of the province, state or country in which the accident occurred to be reported to the police.
(2) [Repealed, SOR/2019-165, s. 21]
Amendment, Cancellation and Suspension of Permits
68 (1) A director who issues a permit may amend, cancel or suspend it, and a director who approves a permit issued by another director may withdraw the approval, on written notification to the motor carrier, if
(a) the motor carrier or the driver contravenes these Regulations or any term or condition of the permit; or
(b) the director determines that the safety and health of the public, the driver or the employees of the motor carrier are likely to be jeopardized.
(2) [Repealed, SOR/2019-165, s. 22]
(3) When a director withdraws approval for a permit issued by another director, the director who issued the permit shall amend it to remove the authority for a commercial vehicle to be operated under the permit in the province in respect of which approval is withdrawn.
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Emergencies and Adverse Driving Conditions
76 (1) The requirements of these Regulations in respect of driving time, on-duty time and off-duty time do not apply to a driver who, in an emergency, requires more driving time to reach a destination that provides safety for the occupants of the commercial vehicle and for other users of the road or the security of the commercial vehicle and its load.
(2) A driver who encounters adverse driving conditions while driving the vehicle during a trip south of latitude 60°N may extend the permitted 13 hours of driving time specified in sections 12 and 13 and reduce the 2 hours of daily off-duty time required by subsection 14(3) by the amount of time needed to complete the trip if
(a) the driving, on-duty and elapsed time in the cycle the driver followed is not extended more than 2 hours;
(b) the driver still takes the required 8 consecutive hours of off-duty time; and
(c) the trip could have been completed under normal driving conditions without the reduction.
(3) A driver who encounters adverse driving conditions while driving the vehicle during a trip north of latitude 60°N may extend the permitted 15 hours of driving time specified in section 39 by the amount of time needed to complete the trip if
(a) the extension of the driving time is no more than 2 hours;
(b) the driver still takes the required 8 consecutive hours of off-duty time; and
(c) the trip could have been completed under normal driving conditions without the extension.
(4) A driver who extends their driving, on-duty or elapsed time because of an emergency or adverse driving conditions shall record the reason for doing so in the record of duty status.
ELD Records of Duty Status
Electronic Logging Device
77 (1) A motor carrier shall ensure that each commercial vehicle that it operates is equipped with an ELD that meets the requirements of the Technical Standard, and shall ensure that it is mounted in a fixed position during the operation of the commercial vehicle and is visible to the driver when the driver is in the normal driving position, with the exception of commercial vehicles that are
(a) operated by a motor carrier under a permit;
(b) operated by a motor carrier to which an exemption has been issued under the Act;
(c) the subject of a rental agreement of no longer than 30 days that is not an extended or renewed rental of the same vehicle; or
(d) manufactured before model year 2000.
(2) The motor carrier shall require the driver to record, and the driver shall record for each day, in accordance with these Regulations and the Technical Standard, all the information associated with their record of duty status as their duty status changes.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply if
(a) the driver drives or is instructed by the motor carrier to drive a commercial vehicle within a radius of 160 km of the home terminal;
(b) the driver returns to the home terminal each day to begin a minimum of 8 consecutive hours of off-duty time; and
(c) the motor carrier maintains accurate and legible records showing, for each day, the cycle the driver followed and on-duty times and keeps those records and the supporting documents relating to those records for a minimum period of 6 months after the day on which each record was recorded.
(4) If a motor carrier authorizes a driver to operate a commercial vehicle for yard moves within a terminal, depot or port and that is not on a public road, the motor carrier shall ensure that the driver’s ELD has been configured so that the driver can indicate those moves.
(5) A driver shall manually input or verify the following information in the ELD:
(a) the date and the start time, if different from midnight, and their driver identification number;
(b) the cycle that the driver is following;
(c) the commercial vehicle licence plates as well as the unit number or trailer number, if applicable;
(d) the names and the addresses of the home terminal and the principal place of business of the motor carrier by which the driver was employed or otherwise engaged during that day;
(e) the commercial vehicle’s location description, if it is not automatically drawn from the ELD’s geo-location database;
(f) if the driver was not required to keep a record of duty status immediately before the beginning of the day, the number of hours of off-duty time and on-duty time that were accumulated by the driver each day during the 14 days immediately before the beginning of the day;
(g) any deferral of off-duty time under section 16;
(h) if the driver was working for more than one motor carrier during the current day or the previous 14 days
(i) for each day during the 14 days immediately before the current day, the total number of hours for each duty status that were accumulated by the driver, and the beginning and end time of each 16-hour period referred to in subsection 13(3), and
(ii) the start and end times of each duty status in the current day, before the use of the ELD; and
(i) any annotation necessary to complete the record of duty status.
(6) No motor carrier shall request, require or allow a driver to use, and no driver shall use, more than one ELD at the same time for the same period.
(7) The motor carrier shall ensure that each commercial vehicle that it operates carries an ELD information packet containing a current version of the following documents:
(a) a user’s manual;
(b) an instruction sheet for the driver describing the data transfer mechanisms supported by the ELD and the steps required to generate and transfer the data with respect to the driver’s hours of service to an inspector;
(c) an instruction sheet for the driver describing the measures to take in the event that the ELD malfunctions; and
(d) a sufficient number of records of duty status to allow the driver to record the information required under section 82 for at least 15 days.
(8) The motor carrier shall ensure that the driver records the information related to their record of duty status and the driver is required to record that information in a complete and accurate manner.
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