Move-Over Laws in Canada: Every Province and Territory Compared

Every Canadian province and territory except Yukon and Nunavut requires a driver to slow down, and most also require a lane change, when passing a stopped emergency vehicle, tow truck, or similar vehicle with its warning lights on, but the vehicles covered, the exact speed formula, and whether a lane change is required at all differ by jurisdiction. Ontario's current law, in force since 2015, already covers tow trucks alongside emergency vehicles; a further expansion to cover a new "work-related vehicle" category is enacted but not in force until January 1, 2027.

Information last verified on 2026-09-24. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

This article covers the move-over or slow-down-to-pass duty under the highway traffic and motor vehicle legislation of Canada's ten provinces and three territories, current as of the verification date above. It does not cover the separate, older duty to yield to a moving emergency vehicle sounding a siren, which exists in nearly every jurisdiction's Act as a distinct provision, or municipal bylaws that may add further requirements. For related driving-record consequences, see Ontario Demerit Points, Quebec Demerit Points, Alberta Demerit Points, British Columbia Demerit Points, and Fighting a Traffic Ticket in Canada.

Ontario: Current Law and the 2027 Expansion

Ontario's move-over duty lives at section 159 of the Highway Traffic Act. The slow-down duty, subsection (2), already covers tow trucks, a detail commonly mistaken for a recent change:

"Upon approaching an emergency vehicle with its lamp producing intermittent flashes of red light or red and blue light or a tow truck with its lamp producing intermittent flashes of amber light that is stopped on a highway, the driver of a vehicle travelling on the same side of the highway shall slow down and proceed with caution, having due regard for traffic on and the conditions of the highway and the weather, to ensure that the driver does not collide with the emergency vehicle or tow truck or endanger any person outside of the emergency vehicle or tow truck."

Tow trucks were added to this subsection by an amendment in force since September 1, 2015; they are not a new addition. Subsection (3) adds the move-over duty on a highway with two or more lanes: a driver in the same lane as, or a lane adjacent to, the stopped vehicle must move into another lane if it is safe to do so.

The current penalty, section 159(6), is a fine of $400 to $2,000 for a first offence and $1,000 to $4,000, or up to six months in jail, or both, for a subsequent offence; a court may also suspend the driver's licence for up to two years. Ontario's demerit point schedule assigns 3 points for failing to slow down and proceed with caution, and a separate 3 points for failing to move into another lane when it is safe.

Section 159 is enacted to be repealed and replaced effective January 1, 2027, adding a third category, a "work-related vehicle" with amber flashing lights, to the slow-down and move-over duty, alongside a new exception for a work-related vehicle stopped in a posted construction-zone speed limit. Fine amounts are unchanged in the future text. "Work-related vehicle" will be defined by a regulation that had not yet been made as of this article's verification date, so a reader should not assume roadside-assistance, utility, or CAA-type vehicles will be covered until that regulation exists. Until January 1, 2027, the operative Ontario law remains emergency vehicles and tow trucks only.

Quebec's Distinct Leave-One-Free-Lane Rule

Quebec's Code de la sécurité routière, article 406.1, uses a different mechanic from Ontario's binary one-lane-over rule. When an emergency vehicle or tow truck is stopped in the driver's own lane, the driver must reduce speed, stop if necessary, and change lanes after confirming it is safe. When the stopped vehicle is on the shoulder or an adjacent lane, the driver must instead change lanes, if another lane exists, so as to leave one full free lane between their vehicle and the stopped vehicle, or otherwise put as much distance as possible between the two while staying in the same lane. The same duty extends to a road vehicle displaying an activated yellow arrow signal directing a lane change, which in practice covers a construction or maintenance crew's arrow board, not only emergency vehicles and tow trucks.

The penalty is a fine of $200 to $300 under article 510, and the demerit-point schedule assigns 4 points for failing to slow down or change lanes for a stopped vehicle with its lights or arrow signal activated. Quebec's core move-over mechanism has not been amended since 2012, unlike Ontario's pending 2027 change.

A National Comparison

The vehicles covered, the speed formula, and whether a lane change is required at all vary enough by jurisdiction that no single national rule can be stated. The table below summarizes each jurisdiction's current, in-force law.

The duty is not always limited to drivers travelling in the same direction. In British Columbia, the speed limit applies to a driver approaching or passing a stopped official vehicle in either direction; an oncoming driver is exempt only on a highway that contains a laned roadway or is divided by a median (B.C. Reg. 26/58 s.47.02(2)). Saskatchewan's 60 km/h rules exempt an oncoming driver only when driving on a divided highway on the opposite roadway (Traffic Safety Act ss.203 to 205.1), and Manitoba exempts only a driver on a divided highway with the directional dividing line between them and the stopped vehicle (Highway Traffic Act s.109.1(4)). On an undivided highway in Saskatchewan or Manitoba, a driver coming the other way must slow down too.

Provinces That Cover More Than Emergency Vehicles and Tow Trucks

Several provinces have moved well beyond a narrow emergency-vehicle-and-tow-truck list, and the additions are recent. Manitoba's roadside-assistance category, added by a 2025 amendment, names battery service, tire changing and repairs, and locked-vehicle service by name, not just towing, making it the broadest private roadside-assistance coverage found in this comparison. Manitoba also added an entirely separate section in 2025, section 109.2, for winter maintenance vehicles such as plows; that section sets a following-distance rule, 30 metres where the posted limit is 80 km/h or less and 100 metres where it is higher, rather than the lane-change mechanic used elsewhere in the Act. This is a distinct duty layered alongside the general move-over rule, not the same rule applied to plows.

New Brunswick added its tow truck, utility corporation, and contracted road-maintenance category in 2020, doubling the scope of a section that had covered only emergency vehicles since 2010; a road safety or maintenance vehicle under contract with the province plausibly includes snowplows, though the enacted text was not confirmed to name snowplows specifically. Newfoundland and Labrador's designated-vehicle definition names a public utility vehicle and a roadside assistance vehicle directly, with amendments as recent as 2024. Alberta takes a different approach entirely: rather than naming vehicle classes, its 2022 rule triggers on any stopped vehicle showing a flashing, rotating, strobe, or 360 degree lamp, which functionally captures police, fire, ambulance, tow trucks, and highway maintenance or utility vehicles without listing any of them by name, while excluding an ordinary car's four-way hazard flashers. Alberta also has a separate speed rule in its Traffic Safety Act, section 115(2)(t): a driver on the same side of the highway may not exceed 60 km/h, or the posted limit if lower, while passing a stopped emergency vehicle or tow truck with its flashing lamps operating. Under section 115(4), that speed rule does not apply where there are two or more lanes in the driver's direction and at least one lane lies between the driver and the stopped vehicle.

Where There Is No Move-Over Law: Yukon and Nunavut

Yukon's Motor Vehicles Act contains no provision requiring a driver to slow down or change lanes for a stopped emergency vehicle, tow truck, or maintenance vehicle. Its only related rule, section 170, is the older duty to pull to the right and stop for a moving vehicle sounding a siren, a different situation from a vehicle already stopped at the roadside.

Nunavut inherited the same pre-1999 statute as the Northwest Territories, but where the Northwest Territories added a stopped-vehicle speed rule in 2009, no equivalent provision appears in Nunavut's own copy. Its public consolidation is current only to December 6, 2019, and the territory's notice lists five amending Acts passed since. None of them adds a move-over duty: S.Nu. 2021, c.10 deals with municipal prosecutions and regulation-making powers, the 2025 and 2026 Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Acts change only procedural wording in the Act, and the other two are consequential provisions of the Legislation Act (2020) and the Tobacco and Smoking Act (2021). A later amendment could change this, so check for anything passed after September 2026.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information about the move-over or slow-down-to-pass duty in Canada's provinces and territories, current as of September 2026. It is not legal advice. Some figures in this article, including certain fine amounts in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, could not be independently confirmed against a primary source and are flagged accordingly. Confirm current requirements directly with your provincial or territorial government, or a lawyer licensed in your province, before relying on this information.