Window tint laws in Northwest Territories (2026)

The rules, window by window

Windshield

No person shall operate a vehicle unless the windshield and front passenger side windows are free from a coating of sunscreen or reflective material other than that applied by the vehicle manufacturer (Motor Vehicle Equipment Regulations, R.R.N.W.T. 1990, c.12(Supp.), s.58). This is an outright prohibition on aftermarket tint/reflective film on those windows, not a percentage-based standard.

The standard in the law's own words

Motor Vehicle Equipment Regulations s.58 is a flat prohibition, not a measured percentage: the windshield and front passenger side windows must be free of any sunscreen or reflective coating except material applied by the vehicle's manufacturer. Rear side windows and the rear window are outside s.58's scope.

Reflectivity

Any aftermarket sunscreen or reflective material on the windshield or front passenger side windows is prohibited outright by s.58, regardless of reflectance level, unless applied by the vehicle manufacturer.

Medical exemption

No medical exemption provision found in the Motor Vehicle Equipment Regulations' windows section (ss.57-61) or in the general exemption provision (s.3, which lets the Registrar issue a permit exempting a vehicle from any provision of the Regulations at the Registrar's discretion, not specifically medical). Not confirmed either way from a primary source in this pass.

Enforcement

Section 141 of the Motor Vehicles Act (R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c. M-16) separately bars a sticker, sign, poster, or other non-transparent material on the windshield or a side or rear window that unduly obstructs the driver's view -- a general obstruction provision distinct from, and narrower than, the Equipment Regulations' s.58 tint-specific ban. Section 4 of the Equipment Regulations also requires every vehicle to comply with the applicable federal CMVSS (Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard).

Notes

RESOLVED. The earlier record could not locate a dedicated tint-specific NWT regulation and fell back to the general obstruction provision (Motor Vehicles Act s.141). This pass located and fully read, section by section, the actual dedicated instrument: the Motor Vehicle Equipment Regulations (R.R.N.W.T. 1990, c.12(Supp.), in force since September 15, 1992, consolidated by the GNWT Department of Justice), made under the Motor Vehicles Act. Its WINDOWS part contains s.57 (safety-glass requirement) and s.58, which is the dedicated tint provision: 'No person shall operate a vehicle unless the windshield and front passenger side windows of the vehicle are free from a coating of sunscreen or reflective material other than that applied by the vehicle manufacturer.' This is an outright ban on aftermarket tint/reflective film on the windshield and front side windows (no numeric VLT floor, no top-strip allowance), not a percentage-based standard; it closely parallels Vermont's approach among the US states already researched. Nothing in s.58 or the surrounding sections restricts rear side windows or the rear window, so those remain unrestricted subject to the general s.141 obstruction rule and the mirror-equipment requirements (s.6) common across the Regulations. Section 141's general obstruction language (previously the only provision on record) still applies but is now understood as a separate, narrower backstop rather than NWT's primary tint rule.