Commercial drivers spend their lives on the road. It’s almost inevitable that they will pick up traffic violations. If they travel across Canada for work they will want to know how violations in one province will affect them in other jurisdictions. So Acumen Law attempted to find out how infractions equate across provinces. It’s a simple enough question but finding an answer is anything but straightforward.
How do infractions equate across provinces?
To begin, let’s start by looking at how commercial vehicle licences are regulated across Canada. Provincial and territorial authorities govern the operation of commercial vehicles. For example, let’s look at what happens when an Ontario-based truck driver commits a traffic violation in B.C.
In Ontario, anyone who drives a truck or tractor weighing more than 4,500 kg, or a bus with seating for more than 10 passengers, is required to carry a Commercial Vehicle Operator’s Registration (CVOR) certificate. Vehicles plated in other Canadian provinces do not need a CVOR certificate so long as they have a safety fitness certificate from the province or territory in which the vehicle is registered.
Commercial vehicles that regularly travel between two or more provinces or territories, or into the US may be issued prorate plates. Prorate plates exempt drivers from having to buy a permit every time they enter a different jurisdiction. If the vehicle has prorate plates and Ontario is included on the cab card, it must have a CVOR.
If a CVOR-holder commits a driving infraction in B.C. or any other province, it will automatically trigger a review of their CVOR certificate. Any convictions for offences outside Ontario are shared between members of the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) via a Canada-wide information exchange.
How are offences calculated?
The CCMTA is a non-profit incorporated organisation comprised of representatives from all provincial, territorial and federal governments in Canada. If a truck driver commits an offence outside of the province in which they hold their licence, the CCMTA calculates the equivalent offence and corresponding sanction.
Our issue is the CCMTA is not transparent about how infractions equate across provinces. There is no publicly available information about how convictions correspond with Ontario’s driving laws and therefore, how many points it will decide to issue to a driver’s CVOR abstract.
Why is this important?
Acumen Law wrote to the CCMTA to request any charts, index or such method used to assign point values to B.C. Motor Vehicle Act offences and their corresponding CVOR points value.
Unfortunately, the CCMTA’s responded by saying the “Conviction Equivalency Table” is an internal document used by its member jurisdictions and is not an external document made available to the public.
This simply isn’t good enough. Knowing how infractions equate across provinces would be hugely beneficial to, say, a truck driver. If you commit an offence while travelling outside the province you will be anxious to know how it will affect your ability to work. Furthermore, knowing that an offence carries more points from one province to another would be a motivating factor to a truck driver to adhere to the traffic priorities determined by the provincial or territorial authority’s road safety priorities.
Acumen Law is calling on the CCMTA to reconsider its decision to keep the Conviction Equivalency Table shrouded in secrecy. Canada’s commercial drivers deserve to know.
Is an outstanding traffic offence affecting your ability to drive? Call Acumen Law now to clear your record.