Electric Bicycle Law in Canada

The Canada authorities has passed legislation for electric bicycle in 2001. The bicycle can be pedelecs or accelerator control e-bikes.This is what is define as electric bicycle and the safety requirements:

Two or three wheels
Has steering handlebars and is equipped with pedals
One or more electric motor with power of less then 500W
Capable of being propelled by muscular power
Pedelec - When engaged by muscular power it must cease assistance when muscular power ceases
Acclerator control e-bikes - power must ceases when braking
Incapable of providing assistance above 20 miles per hour (32 km/h)
Has a permanently label stating the vehicle is a power-assisted bicycle
The bicycle must has one of the following safety features:

(i) an enabling mechanism to turn the electric motor on and off that is separate from the accelerator controller and fitted in such a manner that it is operable by the driver.

(ii) a mechanism that prevents the motor from being engaged before the bicycle attains a speed of 3 km/h

Each province has the possilibty to add or change the requiremnets.

If there is no law in your province, then the above rules should be considered.

If you want to read the offical law, click here: Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (It is a long document so search for: "power-assisted bicycle" to find the relevent data quickly)

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