HPM80

Hi all,

New here - but have been monitoring for a while.

I'll be moving over to Ontario on an intra company transfer probably in November.

I have two little ones who we will be bringing over with us and will fly with their car seats (as it's easier on the plane). My question is whether or not we can legally use the UK car seats in Canada?

I've been looking over the Transport Canada website that talks about cross border shopping and being careful - but it stops short of saying you aren't allowed to use foreign car seats ...

Can anyone enlighten me?

HPM.

Almost Canadian

If the seats do not have the appropriate Canadian sticker on them (proving that they meet the necessary Canadian Standards) you may be prosecuted if you are caught using them and you may have issues with insurance companies if your children are injured while sat in them.

Siouxie

Welcome to BE

You are not allowed to use the car seats from the UK even on the flight unfortunately (if you are flying with a Canadian or US Airline).

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...light=car+seat

You can't use a UK carseat in Canada in a vehicle either, as they are required to have the Canadian equivalent of a kite mark together with both languages.

Additionally:

"109. For the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(a) of the Act, a person who imports into Canada a restraint system or booster seat, or the person’s duly authorized representative, must file with the Minister, before importation, a duly completed declaration in the form prescribed in Schedule 4."

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/r...s/SOR-2010-90/

Also:

"..Transport Canada and Health Canada are concerned that parents and caregivers may not know that it is illegal to import and use in Canada a seat that does not comply with Canadian standards.."

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/s...9-menu-353.htm

HPM80

You're both stars!

Thank you for the info.

We know we can use them on the planes (we'd be flying BA and have used them repeatedly before) - but it was the 'in the car at the other end' bit of the problem.

I guess we'll rethink!

M.

Almost Canadian

We chose not to rethink at all and used our UK seats until our youngest grew out of it. We accepted the risks involved with doing so. I didn't believe that there was much of an insurance risk due to the law of causation. The police around here are so preoccupied with other things that I didn't think that there was much of a risk of being found guilty of committing a crime either.

foreigngirl

They are obsessed with car seats here. Turns out they won't let us leave the hospital without one (despite not having a car and living like a 10-minute walk from the hospital - not that I'm planning to walk right after giving birth...).
But, you can hire a car seat. It's around $7-$10 per day.

fabretti18

We're taking ours as like most anyone else we're getting picked up from the airport and I'll be in no mood to go looking for an approved seat.

We will get a Canadian one after we're settled in.

Flossie and Jim

You can always get one of those CARES harnesses for the plane if you are worried about your little ones wriggling out of the seat! The vast majority of airlines accept these. It wraps round the back of the seat and joins up with the lap belt - dead easy to use.

rich07

I can attest that the police in Ottawa do carry out random checks on car seats. I witnessed them pulling over vehicles at traffic lights a few weeks ago. Basically a cop dressed as a construction worker walks up the line of stationary vehicles and looks for car seats, any they see they tell to pull over by a cop car further up the road who then examine the seat. Not only does the seat need the correct label, but they also have an expiry date now.

While on the subject of construction worker cops, it should also be noted that they carry out checks for you using your cell phone while stationary at the lights and will ticket for that as well.

TeamCanada

It can be very expensive to rent car seats from car hire place. Depending on how little your little ones are, you may be better just buying them. I got a booster seat for my 6 year old from Walmart. I think it was $13 + tax. Not bad at all I think that sort of booster seat will do from about 4 yrs plus.

Scrapcat

I truly thought that we were the only ones who actually put our child in a car seat on a plane.... Have never seen anyone else do so! An air canada attendant did actually check it once too to make sure it was Canadian after she heard our accents.

Oakvillian

The expiry date is not a legal thing. It's a marketing ploy by the car seat manufacturers. It's also a complete nonsense, but that's another thread entirely.

I'm in Almost Canadian's camp. I knew perfectly well that is was theoretically against the law to strap my child in Canada into a car seat that exceeds the extremely rigorous European safety standards and consistently won "top safety pick"-style accolades in the UK. I was completely confident in the ability of the seat to protect my child in the event of an accident, and was prepared to argue my case in court if a jobsworth copper ever had the gall to suggest that he'd charge me for using it. At least the bloody thing was installed properly, which I consistently hear that over 70% of car seats are not.

Dashie

Transport Canada would disagree with you on that Oakvillian, expiry dates are enforced, an out of date seat is illegal to use, regardless of the reasons and whether we agree with it or not. Plenty of pages on that if you look at their website. I would agree that it's partly marketing, but would also argue that they do like to change regulations and it ensures that people aren't using an ancient seat that wouldn't pass stricter safety tests.

You're right though, a lot of seats are badly installed.

CanAngel

Some of it has to do with the degradation of plastic when you leave the seat in your car. It is subject to a lot of heat/cold cycles, and the plastic does become brittle and may not be resistant to impact.

CanAngel

And what about the other way around? Are Canadian seats okay to use in the UK? We'll be traveling at the end of August to visit family in the UK, are our baby seats and booster seats OK? I have used Canadian booster seats in the UK before but have never been pulled over so no issue. I know they are safe, but are they legal?