ATV Trails by KATV President Carolyn Richards

Carolyn Richards, President of KATVA

Bill 107 Getting Ontario Moving Again (THE ACT)

Photo courtesy of KATVA

Upcoming changes to Municipal By-Laws for ATVs and SxS on roads. Bill 107, which would ease restrictions on driving off-road vehicles on municipal roads, passed second reading at Queen’s Park in May 2019 only weeks after being announced by the Provincial government.

“Sections of the Act ... have not yet been proclaimed into law.”

While the Act received Royal Assent under Statutes of Ontario 2019, Chapter 8 in June 2019, sections of the Act including those that deal with the operation of off-road vehicles on Municipal roads have not yet been proclaimed into law. Any changes that the Act may allow are still 18-24 months away. This will provide Municipalities time to review their networks and put By-Laws in place to restrict access where they feel it’s necessary.

Currently the Highway Traffic Act allows regulations and Municipal By-Laws to be made permitting the operation of off-road vehicles on roads. The Act is being amended to specify that such Regulations and By-Laws may also prohibit the operation of offroad vehicles.

The current rules prohibit the use of off-road vehicles on municipal roads unless the Municipality passes a By-Law for their use. The upcoming changes will simplify things by allowing them to operate on municipal roads unless specifically prohibited. The current changes being proposed in Bill 107 to offroad vehicle Regulations is in response to calls from Tourism and off-road vehicle sectors.

What does this mean for our communities? If made into law and embraced by local Municipalities, many riders will be able to not only ride from their homes to the trails but also into local towns for food and gas. Tour operators, such as motels and cottage rentals, that are not directly connected with trail systems will be able to attract more off-road enthusiasts as more people will be willing to venture north for a weekend of riding if they can park their vehicles Friday night and travel by ATV or SxS all weekend while enjoying the trails or venturing into the towns for meals and supplies. We already see this happening successfully in many Municipalities such as Haliburton County, Trent Lakes and the northern portion of the City of Kawartha Lakes. Hopefully this will encourage more Municipalities across Ontario to open their roads to off-road vehicles and reap the benefits of the Tourism dollars.

Photo courtesy of KATVA

What this Act does NOT do is change the laws as they pertain to Provincial Highways such as Highway 35 and Highway 7. Off-road vehicles are not allowed to operate on these Provincial Highways. Also, under

the Highway Traffic Act, ATVs can travel no more than 20 km/h on roads with a speed limit of 50 km/h or less, and no more than 50 km/h on roads with speed limits greater than 50 km/h. Whenever a vehicle approaches, the ATV user is required to move the vehicle onto the shoulder. For further information regarding the use of off-road vehicles on roads in Ontario refer to Reg. 316/03: Operation of Off-Road Vehicles on Highways.

On a final note, the most important point to take from this is as you read this article is that this change is NOT in effect yet. It will be another 18 to 24 months before it is, so you still CANNOT ride your ATV or SxS on any road in Ontario unless there is a By-Law in place in that particular Municipality that says you can. Always check with your local club for a list of the roads you can legally ride, and if there is no club then contact your Municipal By- Law Department.

Photo courtesy of KATVA