On the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations regulatory-change page, Transport Canada lists Technical Standards Document (TSD) 208 at version 3, published August 31, 2026, based on US FMVSS 208 of April 6, 2026. The same row previously listed version 2, published April 1, 2022, based on FMVSS 208 of October 1, 2017. Canadian-market vehicle manufacturers and OEMs, importers of new vehicles into Canada, Tier-1 occupant-restraint and airbag suppliers, and CMVSS homologation leads must update occupant-crash-protection self-certification, advanced-airbag and seat-belt-reminder test programs, and restraint-system specifications to TSD 208 version 3 by September 1, 2028, or non-conforming vehicles cannot be self-certified or sold in Canada under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, with refusal of the National Safety Mark.
The listing follows the May 27 to July 26, 2026 consultation on TSD 208. Transport Canada stated that a TSD can carry an effective date and a mandatory compliance date, that the update would take effect on publication, and that companies could meet revision 2 or the new revision until a proposed mandatory date of September 1, 2028, matching the US interim final rule on seat-belt reminders. The consultations and amendments tables on the page were otherwise unchanged: this is the TSD 208 row moving to version 3, not a new Canada Gazette amendment of the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038).
What changed between TSD 208 version 2 and version 3?
Version 3 copies FMVSS 208 as of April 6, 2026, not the October 1, 2017 text in version 2. That US interim final rule followed an August 22, 2024 update of child restraints used to test advanced airbags and a January 3, 2025 update of seat-belt reminders. Transport Canada told consultees it would refresh the child-restraint list, extend reminders to every seat (including rear start-of-trip and change-of-status warnings), strengthen the driver reminder, and omit the US phase-in schedule and Table A, with numbering, automatic-belt and translation clean-up.
| Item | Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|---|
| TSD publication | April 1, 2022 | August 31, 2026 |
| US text copied | FMVSS 208 of October 1, 2017 | FMVSS 208 of April 6, 2026 |
| Consultation | Not this revision | May 27 to July 26, 2026 |
| Mandatory compliance proposed | Prior revision already applied | September 1, 2028 |
| Choice until that date | Not applicable | Revision 2 or 3, on the consultation plan |
Who has to rebuild Canadian occupant-protection certification?
Exposure follows who places a vehicle on the Canadian market. OEMs selling into Canada (Ford, GM, Stellantis, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, Hyundai-Kia), importers of new vehicles, and Tier-1 restraint suppliers (Autoliv, ZF, Joyson) must treat version 3 as the target file. Homologation leads own the National Safety Mark record.
CMVSS 208 stays the Canadian occupant-crash-protection standard under the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations, C.R.C., c. 1038, which incorporate TSD 208 by reference. Canada uses Transport Canada self-certification, not UNECE type-approval. A US FMVSS 208 package is evidence of alignment, not a substitute for the Canadian text, because the consultation omitted the US phase-in and Table A.
What must be in the file before September 1, 2028?
Transport Canada asked whether September 1, 2028 leaves enough production time, and it described the period after publication as one in which either revision 2 or revision 3 may be met. The gap to close is the October 1, 2017 US baseline against the April 6, 2026 text, minus the clauses Canada said it would leave out.
- Map each Canadian-market platform against version 3 reminder logic: driver, front outboard and rear seats, including start-of-trip and change-of-status.
- Replace advanced-airbag child-restraint inventories with the systems version 3 accepts, and confirm laboratories can procure them.
- Do not rely on the US phase-in schedule or Table A: the consultation said those clauses would not be copied.
- Update test reports, the self-certification record and supplier statements so a vehicle certified after the mandatory date is not documented to version 2 only.
- Record whether a model uses version 3 before September 1, 2028 or stays on version 2 until that date.
Continuous per-jurisdiction monitoring is how a homologation team sees a TSD row change on the day Transport Canada posts it.
What blocks a sale if version 3 is missed after that date?
The consultation states that after the mandatory compliance date, companies must follow the new revision. A vehicle that does not meet the applicable CMVSS cannot carry the National Safety Mark and cannot be sold as a conforming new vehicle in Canada. The regulatory-change page publishes no new penalty schedule and no new SOR: the amendments table was unchanged. The block is the existing self-certification regime.
No nearer date appears on the regulatory-change page. September 1, 2028 is the mandatory date Transport Canada proposed. Treat that day as the point at which version 2 ceases to be an available choice, unless a later instrument moves it.
Confirm which platforms still certify to version 2, brief restraint suppliers on the child-restraint list and the reminder logic, and lock September 1, 2028 into program timing. Obsidian keeps the Canadian TSD row on one watch, so a later Gazette amendment is its own event.
