Canadian Cabotage And Immigration: A Brief Summary For Foreign Motor Carriers

Foreign motor carriers entering Canada to deliver freight are subject to Canadian cabotage and immigration rules that restrict the carriage activities they are permitted to engage in while in Canada.

Generally, there are rules that apply to both:

• The equipment of foreign carriers entering Canada
• The drivers operating that equipment

This article provides a brief overview of Canadian cabotage and related immigration rules.

Canadian cabotage rules also apply to marine vessels and airlines, although this summary only addresses rules from a motor carrier perspective.

Part 1: Equipment

Canadian cabotage rules form a protectionist framework that generally reserves domestic point‑to‑point transportation to Canadian‑based carriers, with only narrow exceptions for movements that are strictly incidental to international traffic. In trucking, the regime operates through customs/tariff rules administered by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) that