The Rocky Mountains emerge out of the prairie landscape along the Trans Canada Highway in Alberta.Taylor Roades
My husband and I have recently retired and we’re planning a one-way drive across Canada over six weeks - we’ll fly to Victoria, rent a car and then fly home from St. John’s. It’s something we’ve always wanted to do, but in Canada, we’ve really only ever driven here and in Alberta. My husband thinks the traffic rules should be pretty much the same across the country, but are there any unusual ones we should watch out for? – Sandy, Prince Albert, Sask.
If you take the Trans-Canada Highway from coast to coast, you’ll stick to one road – but you’ll cross through 10 sets of road rules.
That’s because when Canada became a country 157 years ago, the provinces got certain powers, which eventually came to include traffic laws.
So, you can’t be in the left lane in Quebec unless you’re passing, you can be charged for texting in a Tim Hortons drive-through in Alberta but not in Ontario, and you’re technically supposed to honk when you pass a car in PEI.
You can be charged with driving offences under the federal Criminal Code – including impaired driving and dangerous driving – everywhere in Canada, but provincial traffic rules vary.
While every province and territory requires seatbelts and bans distracted driving, here are a few differences to watch out for:
B.C.’s flashing green lights don’t mean you’re safe to turn left
In a few provinces, including Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the driving manuals say that a flashing green light at an intersection means the same thing as a green left-pointing arrow and a green light: it’s an advance green.
Since oncoming traffic is still facing a red, you may turn left, go straight ahead or turn right.
But in British Columbia and the Yukon, a flashing green light doesn’t mean you’re clear to turn left. Instead, it means you’re at an intersection where pedestrians can push a button to change the light to red so they can cross. So, if you have a flashing green light in Vancouver, for instance, oncoming traffic has a flashing green, too. The law in B.C. says drivers approaching a flashing green must drive in a manner that would allow them to stop for any pedestrians that might be in the crosswalk.
Some provinces allow U-turns at intersections, others don’t
In Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and PEI, the rules around are fairly straightforward – you can make a U-turn at any intersection, as long as you can make it safely and there’s no sign banning them.
Most of these provinces have additional exceptions, in Manitoba and Ontario, you can’t make a U-turn on a curve or the crest of a hill. Ontario also bans U-turns at railway crossings and within 150 metres of a bridge, tunnel or curve in the road.
But the rules are trickier in other provinces. B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan ban U-turns at intersections with traffic lights unless there’s a sign saying they’re allowed.
So, for instance, a driver from Alberta who’s not used to cars making U-turns at an intersection back home should be ready for one when driving in Ontario, Angelo DiCicco, general manager with the Ontario Safety League, a Mississauga-based non-profit focusing on driver education, said in an email.
If you were turning right on a red light in Toronto, you would have to yield to a car that is making a U-turn on the green light, he said.
Ontario’s the only province where a solid double line is just a suggestion
In most of Canada, crossing the yellow solid double line on a highway is, well, crossing the line.
In every province except Ontario, it’s illegal to cross that line to pass – you have to wait for a broken line.
But in Ontario, solid painted lines are just visual reminders to use extra caution when passing – on their own they don’t mean you can’t pass, said Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
If there’s a sign banning passing, then it’s illegal to pass, OPP said.
Here’s a quick Lines 101: Yellow lines separate traffic moving in opposite directions while white lines separate traffic moving in the same direction.
Most provinces treat a solid line the same, whether it’s single or double – it’s illegal to cross. There are a few exceptions. In B.C. and Nova Scotia, for instance, the law states you can cross a solid single yellow line to pass – as long as you can do it safely.
For example, page 38 of B.C.’s driver’s handbook states that a single yellow line means “passing is allowed with extra caution.”
In Quebec, the left lane is for passing
In Quebec, you have no right to be in the left lane unless you’re passing or turning.
The law there bans driving in the leftmost lane on highways with limits over 80 kilometres an hour unless you’re passing or turning left.
That means you’re not supposed to be in the left lane if you’re the only vehicle on the highway, according to Quebec’s provincial police force, Sûreté du Québec.
In most other provinces, the laws say traffic going below the speed limit should keep right on highways, without specifying that the left lane is for passing only.
In B.C., the law says you have to get out of the left lane if other vehicles are coming up behind you – but it doesn’t specifically ban being in the left lane unless you’re passing.
Honk when you pass in PEI?
In PEI and Nova Scotia, you’re supposed to honk before passing another vehicle.
Section 154 of PEI’s Highway Traffic Act states the “driver of a vehicle that is overtaking another vehicle … shall sound a clearly audible signal by horn.” It’s also on page 96 in the province’s driver’s handbook. Nova Scotia has a similar law.
The RCMP said the law is rarely enforced.
Editor’s note: This version has been updated to state that Ontario bans U-turns within 150 metres of a curve in a road.
Have a driving question? Send it to globedrive@globeandmail.com and put ‘Driving Concerns’ in your subject line. Emails without the correct subject line may not be answered. Canada’s a big place, so let us know where you are so we can find the answer for your city and province.