Manitoba's Chameleon-Carrier Law Takes Effect
On January 1, 2025, Manitoba gained new powers to refuse safety fitness certificates to carriers tied to operators with poor safety records.
In January 2025, Manitoba's legislation aimed at so-called chameleon carriers came into force. A proclamation signed on December 11, 2024 named January 1, 2025, as the day The Highway Traffic Amendment Act (S.M. 2023, c. 17) took effect. A new Regulated Vehicles and Motor Carriers Regulation, registered on December 13, 2024, started on the same day.
Chameleon carriers are trucking businesses that close and later reopen under a new name to avoid dealing with safety problems. Manitoba introduced the amendments in March 2023, saying they responded to a 2019 Office of the Auditor General report on the oversight of commercial vehicle safety. The province lists the bill as passed on May 30, 2023, but it needed a proclamation before it could take effect.
Who was affected
According to the province's guidance on the changes, regulated vehicles are buses, and motor vehicles and trailers with a registered gross weight of 4,500 kg or more. The changes applied only to operators of regulated vehicles that must hold a Safety Fitness Certificate (SFC) under section 312.1 of the Highway Traffic Act.
New powers over affiliated carriers
The guidance listed the main changes that started on January 1:
- a specific power to refuse an SFC to an operator deemed a safety risk, based on its own safety record or its affiliation with another operator that has a poor safety record;
- a specific power to assign a safety fitness rating on the same basis;
- the consolidation of some regulated vehicle requirements into the new regulation.
The province had explained that, before the bill, every new carrier was given a "satisfactory unaudited" rating. The amendments let officials give a new operator a conditional rating when there are known safety issues. Operators who believe they were unfairly identified as chameleon carriers can appeal to the Licence Suspension Appeal Board.
How "related" carriers are defined
The new regulation spelled out when an SFC applicant is treated as related to another motor carrier. The tests included:
- a close family tie between the applicant, or its officers or directors, and the other carrier or its officers or directors;
- direct or indirect control of, or by, the other carrier, either at the time of the application or in the previous 12 months;
- 50% or more of the applicant's drivers working, or having worked in the previous 12 months, for the other carrier;
- 50% or more of the applicant's regulated vehicles having been operated by the other carrier in the previous 12 months;
- shared directors or officers, or a business partnership, in the same period.
Carry the certificate
All regulated vehicle operators had to carry a copy of their SFC in the vehicle while operating in Manitoba. Manitoba Motor Carrier Enforcement said it would enforce this on out-of-province operators as well. Manitoba recognizes Safety Fitness Certificates from other Canadian jurisdictions as equivalent to its own. For carriers based in a province or territory that does not issue one, a valid vehicle registration showing a National Safety Code number is acceptable.
Driver records
The bill also required operators to obtain the driving records of all their drivers every 12 months and review them within 30 days to decide whether each driver is fit to keep driving for them.
Archive: this article describes rules and events as of January 2025. Regulations may have changed since, so check the current rule before relying on it.