View Full Version : Car seat standards

08-30-2004, 07:15 PM
I moved to Vancouver from NYC the beginning of August, and already had an Evenflo Triumph carseat for DS. Where can I go to find out why it's not sold in Canada? Also, where can I go to find out if I'm even allowed to use it in Canada?

I love the seat - maybe soon it will be sold in Canada, because it really is the easiest thing to use, and I don't want to find out that I have to replace it with something that I know will cost more than double what was paid for this one!!

Thanks for any help!


DS - Nathan, 12/29/03

08-30-2004, 09:03 PM
Bad news, I'm afraid. You may be stuck replacing the seat.

Why isn't it sold in Canada? That decision is made by the manufacturer. Canada's car seat tests involve different dummy weights than the US, so they can't re-use the data from the tests that qualified them in the US. And the tests must be performed at the company's expense. Plus they have to completely relabel the seats and package them with different instructions and different packaging (the French requirement is just one factor), and what it adds up to is that selling a seat in Canada involves a major cash investment for the manufacturer. So they choose a subset of seats to sell up here.

Can you use it in Canada? Well, if you were passing through here as a tourist, you'd be okay. If you were here on a strictly short-term temporary basis (like a 4-month contract or something), you could probably squeak by, legally speaking. But anything longer and you must have a seat with the CMVSS (Canadian version of FMVSS) label, according to the law.

What if you decide to use the seat anyway? Well, it'd be HIGHLY unusual to find yourself in a situation where a cop was looking for the CMVSS sticker. But it could happen, and among other things, the seat could be confiscated, I suppose, although I have to admit that this would be governmental bloodymindedness above and beyond the call of anything I have hitherto encountered.

The place where the rubber really meets the road is insurance. If you are in an accident, and your child is injured, your insurance company could potentially refuse to pay up if you had the child in an illegal (non-CMVSS) seat. It sounds like a remote possibility, but the niece of a close friend of mine was in such an accident, and although she is recovering, it has involved an unholy amount of physiotherapy, occupational therapy, assistive devices, respite care and assorted other expenses which are not covered by socialized medicine and which would have bankrupted the family if not covered.

On the up side, if you chose to go Britax on the replacement seat, the Marathon is now available in Canada, but as you know, that sucker costs a lot.

I'm really sorry - I wish I had better news, but that's the best answers I can give to your questions!



08-30-2004, 09:26 PM
Yes to all Kathy had said but also to add regarding the insurance. If you are living here for short-term, you should call your insurance company to ask if it's okay for you to continue using your Triumph. Then make your decision from there.

08-30-2004, 09:38 PM

I was reading the baby bargains book today and in the back it was saying how Canada is ahead of the states on safety issues for car seats. This is why some car seats sold in the states are not allowed in Canada.

All I could find for you about car seats were these sites http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/childsafety/menu.htm (Transport Canada) or http://www.icbc.com/Road_Safety/carseat_kindof.html (ICBC)

Hope this helps give some direction.

09-03-2004, 12:43 PM
FYI, the police in the Lower Mainland do car seat "roadblocks" on occasion. They run them just like an impaired driving roadblock, except they pull over all cars with children and/or car seats in them, inspect the seats for proper installation, Canadian stickers, etc. They definitely do give out fines for using a non-Canadian seat.

Personally, I would get a Canadian seat. Even if Evenflo were to get the Triumph passed through Canadian safety tests, YOUR seat wouldn't have the sticker and you would still get a fine or not have insurance coverage if you used it here. I just don't think the risk is worth it.


Mom to Maya http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/binky.gif & Dog Mom to Bubba http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/dog.gif


09-13-2004, 08:50 AM
My wife and I are currently living in the U.S. but will likely relocate back to Canada in the next 1-2 years. Since we're currently in the market for a convertible seat for our daughter (most likely a Britax), it seems to me that we'd be better off purchasing a seat from a Canadian retailer so that it meets Canadian standards and we won't need to re-purchase upon our move back to Canada.

I'm not aware of U.S. standards being quite as strict so I don't think we'd have a problem using the seat down here. Does anyone know otherwise or see a problem with this approach?

Thanks in advance,

09-13-2004, 08:55 AM
Answered you in Carseats forum.