OTTAWA, Ont. — Transport Minister, David Collenette, recently announced proposed regulations that would enhance the safety of Canada’s commercial motor vehicle carriers and their drivers.

These new regulations, which will amend the Motor Vehicle Transportation Act, are designed to establish a common approach to safety ratings across Canada. They will provide a framework that will enable provinces and territories to implement a consistent safety rating system for all commercial motor vehicle carriers who operate in more than one province (extra-provincial motor carriers).

“Transport Canada is proposing these new regulations to help establish uniform standards for safety ratings for trucks and buses across Canada,” says Mr. Collenette. “This initiative is part of the department’s firm and long standing commitment to enhancing the safety of our transportation system.”

Consistent national regulations help ensure that the safety record of a carrier in one jurisdiction will result in the same safety rating as a carrier in another jurisdiction with the same safety record.

Responsibility for motor carrier safety is shared between the federal, provincial and territorial governments. The provinces and territories will be responsible for enforcing the proposed regulations.

Under the new regulations, provinces and territories would monitor safety performance for all extra-provincial motor carriers in their jurisdiction. The input from all jurisdictions in which a carrier operates will allow the jurisdiction where the carrier is based to maintain a complete safety compliance profile. Carriers whose safety performance is rated unsatisfactory could be prohibited by provinces and territories from operating on Canadian roads.

Interested parties have 75 days to comment before the regulations are finalized for implementation, for more information visit, www.tc.gc.ca