About intercommunity passenger transportation

Intercommunity transportation vehicles play an important role in Ontario’s passenger transportation system, helping to connect people to essential services, employment, education, friends, family, and destinations of interest. 

Intercommunity passenger transportation refers to passenger transportation services being offered for compensation and operating across a municipal boundary in Ontario. The sector includes not-for-profit, public and privately-owned operators.

These vehicles can include:

  • buses that can carry 10 or more passengers (commonly known as intercommunity buses)
  • smaller vehicles with a seating capacity of one to nine passengers (commonly known as “under 10s”)

Vehicles for hire, such as taxicabs or rideshares that are municipally licensed or providing municipal transit services within the boundaries of that municipality are not considered intercommunity passenger transportation vehicles. Intercommunity service providers that pick up and drop off passengers within the same municipality may require a municipal licence.

Requirements for all intercommunity service providers

As part of the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act in 2021, intercommunity service providers in Ontario no longer need a public vehicle operating licence to provide services on a specific route. This was done to:

  • give service providers more opportunities to access markets
  • reduce red tape and regulatory burden on businesses
  • fill service gaps and improve transportation options for Ontarians

All intercommunity service providers must follow Ontario’s requirements for passenger transportation vehicles, including those for passenger seating, luggage and freight, insurance and more. There are additional requirements for intercommunity service providers that depend on how many passengers the vehicle carries (over or under 10).

Additional requirements for intercommunity vehicles that carry 10 or more passengers (intercommunity buses)

Operators of buses with a carrying capacity of 10 or more passengers must

  • comply with the requirements of the Highway Traffic Act
  • have a valid Commercial Vehicle Operator’s Registration (CVOR) certificate
  • ensure drivers have the appropriate driver’s licence to operate the vehicle
  • operators of modified buses with a Government of Canada – Transport Canada National Safety Mark are required to have an additional exit, such as two doors or six pushout windows. Operators of unmodified buses with a National Safety Mark are not required to have a second exit or alternative push-out windows
  • carry a fire extinguisher on board
  • if carrying a trailer, the bus trailer combination must be allowed as per section 13 of Ontario Regulation 418/21
  • if using a bike rack, the vehicle must remain within the maximum regulated length limit or else a bus rack permit (special vehicle configuration permit) is required.

These requirements are enforced by police and Ministry of Transportation enforcement officers.

Annual Reporting Requirements

Starting in 2022, upon receiving a request from the Ministry of Transportation, private and not-for-profit intercommunity passenger transportation providers that are not affiliated with a provincial agency, municipality, or exempted from program requirements are required to complete a survey form and submit data to the ministry once a year.

The survey will help Ontario better support the needs of intercommunity service providers and users. Questions include, but are not limited to, topics such as:

  • vehicle fleet and types of vehicles
  • vehicle accessibility
  • vehicle sustainability
  • fare ticket purchasing mechanisms
  • routes being operated
  • route schedules
  • information about ridership (maintained as commercially sensitive)
  • stopping locations and infrastructure

Data collected for the survey is confidential, pursuant to The Highway Traffic Act, and individual service provider’s responses will not be disclosed.

Public notices for changes in service

Operators of intercommunity vehicles that carry 10 or more passengers must give a minimum of 48 hours’ notice to the public and passengers when there is a change in scheduled service. Service providers must communicate these changes by:

  • providing notice on the company web site
  • sending an electronic message (for example, an email or text message) to customers who purchased a ticket
  • posting a notice at scheduled stops

Exempted vehicles

The following passenger transportation services are exempt from the intercommunity program requirements, except for ones related to trailers:

  • ambulances or patient transfer services vehicles
  • carpool vehicles where no fee is charged beyond the expenses of operating the vehicle and the driver does not take passengers on more than one round-trip or one-way trip per day
  • municipally-licensed passenger transportation vehicles including taxis and vehicles-for-hire
  • vehicles operated by or on behalf of a childcare centre licensed under the Child Care and Early Years Act
  • a service provider under the Connecting Care Act
  • an Indigenous organization providing care services under the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Act
  • a licensee under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act
  • passenger transportation vehicles operated within a single local municipality, the Regional Municipality of Niagara, or the Regional Municipality of Waterloo

Additional requirements for intercommunity vehicles that carry one to nine passengers (under-10s)

In addition to Ontario’s requirements for passenger transportation vehicles, under-10 vehicle operators are required to report the following to the Ministry of Transportation as part of the registration process:

  • when an under-10 vehicle is being used to provide intercommunity transportation services
  • that they meet the minimum driver, insurance, and vehicle safety requirements in the Highway Traffic Act
  • when an under-10 vehicle is no longer being used to provide intercommunity bus transportation services

Municipally licensed vehicles-for-hire are not required to get an under-10 vehicle permit, but are subject to municipal requirements.

Under-10 vehicle declaration and program requirements

Under-10 vehicles with a seating capacity of one to nine passengers offering for-compensation transportation services between municipalities are subject to registration and safety requirements.

The requirements apply to passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles with a registered gross weight of up to and including 4,500 kg.

Operators of under-10 vehicles must meet all program requirements and bring a completed and signed Declaration – Under 10 Passenger Transportation Vehicle to a ServiceOntario location to register the vehicle in the program.

Operators of under-10 vehicles must:

  • meet minimum insurance requirements:
    • $2 million for vehicles with a seating capacity of one to seven passengers
    • $5 million for vehicles with a seating capacity of eight to nine passengers
    • $5,000 for damage to passengers’ property
  • undergo a twice-annual safety inspection at a licensed Motor Vehicle Inspection Station or Vehicle Inspection Centre
  • display a valid visual identifier (semi-annual inspection sticker) on the outside of the vehicle (front lower corner of the passenger window) so people can identify U10 vehicles
  • have an under-10 vehicle identifier on the vehicle registration permit and registration record
  • have a fire extinguisher
  • ensure under-10 vehicle drivers have a full class G Ontario driver’s licence or higher
  • ensure under-10 vehicle drivers are 18 years of age or older

Register an intercommunity vehicle that carries one to nine passengers (under-10)

Follow these steps to register an intercommunity vehicle that carries one to nine passengers (also known as an “under-10”).

Step 1: Ensure that your vehicle meets the program requirements.

Step 2: Complete and sign a Declaration – Under 10 Passenger Transportation Vehicle form and bring it to a ServiceOntario location along with your current vehicle ownership permit.

Step 3: The form will be processed by ServiceOntario and returned to you. You must keep it in your records.

Step 4: You will be provided a new vehicle ownership permit with an under-10 declaration at no cost. The permit will indicate that your under-10 vehicle provides intercommunity passenger transportation services.

Step 5: Upon request, you will be required to report details (for example, on your Passenger Transportation Vehicle operations) to the Ministry of Transportation.

Note: There are no additional costs for registering a vehicle as under-10. You will not be charged for the new vehicle ownership permit if you are only adding an under-10 declaration.

How to declare an under-10 vehicle is exiting the program

Step 1: Complete and sign a Declaration – Under10 Passenger Transportation Vehicle form and check the box indicating “I will no longer use the vehicle for a purpose for which a under-10 permit is required.”

Step 2: Bring the completed form to a ServiceOntario location where you will be issued a new permit at no cost.

Under-10 permits will be automatically cancelled if you:

  • transfer your vehicle ownership
  • add any of the following vehicle declarations:
    • Personal Use Only (PUO)
    • Municipal Fire Truck (MFT or MF3)
    • Permanently attached apparatus or machine (PAR)
  • add any of the following registrant declarations:
    • Active Service (ARM)
    • Consular Corps (CCA)
    • Diplomatic Corps (CDA)
    • Foreign National (XOR/XTR)
    • Church School (CHS)
    • Federal Government (FDA)
    • Ontario Government (ONA)
    • Red Cross (RDX)
    • Order of St. John/St. John Ambulance (STJ)

Intercommunity passenger transportation vehicles from outside of Ontario

Intercommunity service providers do not require a public vehicle operating licence. This includes vehicles from outside Ontario that are used to transport passengers into, out of, and within the province.

Providers are still subject to the requirements for vehicles that carry 10 or more passengers, and vehicles that carry one to nine passengers, as described above.

Contact us

For questions about intercommunity passenger transportation in Ontario, please email IntercommunityBus@ontario.ca