Window tint laws in Newfoundland and Labrador (2026)

The rules, window by window

Windshield

No person shall place or install non-transparent, translucent, or opaque material on or in place of the windshield glazing in a manner or to an extent that the vehicle no longer conforms with the federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act CMVSS 205 Glazing Materials standard, subject to exemptions for manufacturer-equivalent replacement glazing, clear untinted frost shields, and non-vision-impairing window stickers.

The standard in the law's own words

NL's rule incorporates the federal CMVSS 205 Glazing Materials standard by reference rather than stating a provincial percentage directly: added material is prohibited on the windshield or front side window glazing if it takes the vehicle out of conformance with CMVSS 205 (s.38(1)).

Medical exemption

No medical exemption provision identified in Licensing and Equipment Regulations s.38. Not confirmed either way from a primary source in this pass.

Enforcement

Section 38(3) requires that the view through a frost shield not be impaired by discolouration, scratches, or damage. Section 38(4) separately bars any window material that casts a glare at other highway vehicles due to sunlight or headlights.

Notes

Confirmed directly from the regulation text (Licensing and Equipment Regulations, CNLR 1007/96, s.38 'Window glazing') via the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly's legislation site. On the flagged gap: CMVSS 205 (Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations, C.R.C. c.1038, Schedule IV, Standard 205) is not a stand-alone Canadian text but incorporates ANSI/SAE Z26.1-1996 by reference (confirmed directly from the official Justice Laws Website consolidation of the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations); the literal transmittance figures live inside that private, paywalled ANSI standard, not in freely reproducible Canadian statute text. That said, the substance of ANSI Z26.1-1996 as incorporated into both FMVSS 205 (US) and CMVSS 205 (Canada, harmonized with the US standard) is well and consistently documented by NHTSA's own regulatory materials (interpretation letters and Federal Register rulemaking preambles) as requiring a minimum 70% light transmittance for glazing 'requisite for driving visibility' -- which covers the windshield and front side windows but not rear side windows or the rear window, which manufacturers may glaze more darkly at the factory. Because NL's s.38(1) makes provincial legality turn directly on CMVSS 205 conformance, this 70% figure is recorded as NL's effective front-side/windshield floor with medium confidence: it rests on a consistent, multiply-corroborated description of a standard incorporated by reference into primary Canadian federal law, not on a direct read of the ANSI text itself (which was not accessible in this pass). Rear side windows and the rear window remain outside the areas 'requisite for driving visibility' under the standard as described, so they stay unrestricted per s.38 and noRestriction above.