O. Reg. 38/18: DRIVERS' LICENCES
filed February 23, 2018 under Highway Traffic Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8
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made under the
Highway Traffic Act
Made: February 21, 2018
Filed: February 23, 2018
Published on e-Laws: February 23, 2018
Printed in The Ontario Gazette: March 10, 2018
Amending O. Reg. 340/94
(DRIVERS’ LICENCES)
1. Subsection 1 (1) of Ontario Regulation 340/94 is amended by adding the following definitions:
“nurse practitioner” means a member of the College of Nurses of Ontario who is a registered nurse and who holds an extended certificate of registration in accordance with the regulations under the Nursing Act, 1991; (“infirmière praticienne ou infirmier praticien”)
“occupational therapist” means a member of the College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario; (“ergothérapeute”)
“optometrist” means a member of the College of Optometrists of Ontario; (“optométriste”)
“physician” means a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario; (“médecin”)
2. Subsection 14 (4) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “March 2009” and substituting “March 2017”.
3. The Regulation is amended by adding the following sections:
14.1 (1) For the purposes of subsection 203 (1) of the Act, the following are the prescribed persons who shall report under that subsection: an optometrist, a nurse practitioner and a physician.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), an optometrist is prescribed only with respect to visual impairments.
(3) For the purposes of subsection 203 (1) of the Act, the following are the prescribed medical conditions, functional impairments and visual impairments that a prescribed person under subsection (1) shall report:
1. Cognitive impairment: a disorder resulting in cognitive impairment that,
i. affects attention, judgment and problem solving, planning and sequencing, memory, insight, reaction time or visuospatial perception, and
ii. results in substantial limitation of the person’s ability to perform activities of daily living.
2. Sudden incapacitation: a disorder that has a moderate or high risk of sudden incapacitation, or that has resulted in sudden incapacitation and that has a moderate or high risk of recurrence.
3. Motor or sensory impairment: a condition or disorder resulting in severe motor impairment that affects co-ordination, muscle strength and control, flexibility, motor planning, touch or positional sense.
4. Visual impairment:
i. A best corrected visual acuity that is below 20/50 with both eyes open and examined together.
ii. A visual field that is less than 120 continuous degrees along the horizontal meridian, or less than 15 continuous degrees above and below fixation, or less than 60 degrees to either side of the vertical midline, including hemianopia.
iii. Diplopia that is within 40 degrees of fixation point (in all directions) of primary position, that cannot be corrected using prism lenses or patching.
5. Substance use disorder: a diagnosis of an uncontrolled substance use disorder, excluding caffeine and nicotine, and the person is non-compliant with treatment recommendations.
6. Psychiatric illness: a condition or disorder that currently involves acute psychosis or severe abnormalities of perception such as those present in schizophrenia or in other psychotic disorders, bipolar disorders, trauma or stressor-related disorders, dissociative disorders or neurocognitive disorders, or the person has a suicidal plan involving a vehicle or an intent to use a vehicle to harm others.
(4) A person prescribed under subsection (1) is not required under subsection 203 (1) of the Act to report a person whose impairment is, in the prescribed person’s opinion, of a distinctly transient or non-recurrent nature.
(5) A person prescribed under subsection (1) is not required under subsection 203 (1) of the Act to report modest or incremental changes in ability that, in the prescribed person’s opinion, are attributable to a process of natural aging, unless the cumulative effect of the changes constitutes a condition or impairment described in subsection (3).
(6) When considering whether a person has or appears to have a prescribed medical condition, functional impairment or visual impairment that is described in subsection (3), a prescribed person under subsection (1) may take into consideration,
(a) the CCMTA Medical Standards for Drivers described in subsection 14 (4); and
(b) the document entitled Determining Medical Fitness to Operate Motor Vehicles (9th edition), published by the Canadian Medical Association and dated 2017, as it may be amended from time to time, that is available on the Internet through the website of the Canadian Medical Association.
14.2 For the purposes of subsection 203 (2) of the Act, the following are the prescribed persons who may report under that subsection: an occupational therapist, an optometrist, a nurse practitioner and a physician.
4. Subsection 15 (5) of the Regulation is revoked.
5. Section 18 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsection:
(4) Where the horizontal visual field of a driver is to be determined,
(a) it shall be measured without the aid of extraordinary optical devices that enhance or modify vision or that interfere with the horizontal visual field, such as telescopic lenses, prism lenses or sidebar prisms;
(b) the continuous horizontal visual field shall not include the natural blind spot;
(c) the visual field representation must include the central visual fixation point at its centre;
(d) no less than half of the continuous degrees of the horizontal visual field that are required along the horizontal meridian shall be found on either side of the vertical meridian; and
(e) the continuous degrees of the horizontal visual field that are required above and below fixation shall be continuous throughout the required continuous degrees along the horizontal meridian.
6. Section 19 of the Regulation is amended by striking out “subsection 18 (3)” and substituting “subsections 18 (3) and (4)”.
7. Paragraph 3 of subsection 26 (2) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
3. The driver has been requested by the Minister to take a re-examination due to a medical condition.
Commencement
8. (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Regulation comes into force on the day it is filed.
(2) Sections 1, 2, 3 and 7 come into force on the later of the day section 55 of the Transportation Statute Law Amendment Act (Making Ontario’s Roads Safer), 2015 comes into force and the day this Regulation is filed.