Recall Posting and VIN Lookup Requirement

Summary#

The final rule titled Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Recall Information) requires companies that issue vehicle or vehicle-equipment recalls to post standard recall details on their websites and — for some larger companies — to provide a VIN search tool. The regulations came into force when published in the Canada Gazette, Part II on January 1, 2025.

What it does#

• Requires companies that report a safety recall to publish specified recall information on the website they use for the Canadian market, in both official languages. Required items include:
  • the date the notice was given to the Minister, make/model/model year, and the company’s recall ID and the Department-issued recall number;
  • a description of the defect or non-compliance, the safety risk and likely injuries, and whether it could cause a crash;
  • the corrective measures, any precautions owners can take, parts/facilities availability or expected date, contact instructions, and the date the web page was last updated.
• Sets timelines and updating rules:
  • publish the required information as soon as feasible but no later than 60 days after the company notifies the Minister;
  • update the posted information within 7 days after any change;
  • if certain details (like corrective measures or parts availability) are not yet known, publish them within 7 days after they become available.
• Requires retention and access:
  • posted recall pages must remain available for at least 15 years for vehicles and 10 years for vehicle equipment.
  • the published information must be free, accessible without registration, and reachable from the company home page by a prominent “Recall” link.
• Introduces a two-tier approach:
  • Designated companies (larger or high-volume firms chosen by the Minister) must provide a free web-based VIN lookup that shows all recalls for a specific 17-character VIN and meet additional display/search-tool rules.
  • Non‑designated companies follow the basic website posting rules; companies without a website are not forced to create one.
• Transitional timing:
  • non‑designated companies must comply one year after publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II;
  • companies designated later must comply with the VIN tool rules within 18 months of their designation.
• Other technical changes:
  • minor French-language wording fixes in the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations;
  • a clarification that companies need not provide VINs directly to prescribed persons when the VINs are published or when the recall is posted as required.
• Who enforces it:
  • Transport Canada inspectors will audit company websites to verify compliance.

Who's affected#

• Vehicle manufacturers, importers and sellers, and companies that make or import vehicle equipment such as child restraints and tires.
• Transport Canada will carry out compliance checks.
• The regulatory analysis identified about 27 companies likely to be designated and about 212 non‑designated companies initially in scope. An estimated 37 small businesses will be affected over time.
• The Minister has discretion to designate companies (the Department considered a threshold of 2,500 vehicles per year when consulting, but designation decisions may vary). The exact list of designated firms had not been fixed at publication.

Why it matters#

• It makes recall information easier and faster to find online. That helps owners, used-car buyers, dealers, and repair shops check whether a specific vehicle has an outstanding safety recall by VIN.
• Transport Canada expects the change to raise recall completion rates and reduce the number of vehicles on the road with unresolved safety problems. The regulatory statement cites an estimate that more than one in five vehicles previously had unresolved recalls — about 6.6 million of 33.3 million registered vehicles — which is the kind of problem these rules aim to reduce.
• There is a cost to industry and government: the rules are estimated to cost $4.94 million in present-value terms over ten years (about $4.69 million for designated companies, $0.23 million for non‑designated companies, plus Government audit costs). The rule also includes potential benefits that were described qualitatively (fewer injuries, fewer re-notifications), but those benefits were not fully monetized in the statement.
• Practical effects for the public: you will be able to find standardized recall details on manufacturers’ websites and, for many big brands, look up a vehicle’s recall history by entering its VIN.