The electric scooter revolution is here to stay, and many Canadians are looking for different ways to reduce their daily commute to work or school. Electric scooters are a great option, but the legality of them can be confusing. In Canada, electric scooters are not legal on public roads, but they are allowed on private properties and sidewalks. The Ontario government has launched a pilot project for electric scooters, but it is quite restrictive in terms of scooter capacity.
The best thing to do is to Google the restrictions of provincial law (maximum speed, maximum weight, maximum tire size, maximum power) and check with your municipality if they have gone ahead with regulations. For example, the city of Toronto has decided not to go ahead with the pilot program, so it is currently banned in the city. The Ontario electric scooter pilot program allows municipalities to choose where and how electric scooters can be used. This initiative came to light during the height of the pandemic, when hospitals were overflowing with patients with Covid-19 and the city's medical system was under so much pressure that the city council considered it unwise to introduce electric scooters due to the stigma of related injuries.
Nowadays, many people are looking for different ways to reduce their daily commute to work or school, making electric scooters much preferable for Canadians. This pilot program established strict guidelines for the use of electric scooters in the city on highways and public properties. However, some people choose to ignore these rules and use devices unsafely, leading to a sharp increase in injuries related to electric scooters. Staff in the City of Toronto have identified several times that they do not have the resources available to enforce the ban on electric scooters, so as long as traffic regulations are respected, there are NO legal impediments to the use of electric scooters.
With a 134% increase in private sales and hundreds of new people around the world becoming users of electric scooters every day, it's crystal clear that the electric scooter revolution is here to stay. Electric scooters are successfully used all over the world. In Canada, cities such as Brampton, Vancouver and Ottawa have approved the same or similar pilot program with great success. As a reminder, always make sure you apply the best practices when using an electric scooter.
