Window tint laws in Quebec (2026)

The rules, window by window

Windshield

No darkening or opaque material may be affixed to or sprayed on the windshield, except a strip no more than 15 cm wide on the upper part.

The standard in the law's own words

The Highway Safety Code frames the underlying obligation qualitatively: 'The windshield and the other windows of a motor vehicle must conform to the standards prescribed by regulation to ensure good visibility for the driver' and 'must be free of any material that might reduce visibility' (s.265); no person may coat the windshield or front side windows with a substance reducing or preventing good visibility inside or outside the vehicle (s.266). The specific 70% numeric threshold is set in the regulation made under this Code.

Reflectivity

No mirror-like (reflective) material may be affixed to or sprayed on any window of a road vehicle (Regulation respecting safety standards for road vehicles, s.63).

Medical exemption

No medical exemption provision identified in the sections reviewed (Highway Safety Code ss.264-267; Regulation respecting safety standards for road vehicles ss.58-64). Not confirmed either way from a primary source in this pass.

Enforcement

Compliance is measured with a photometer; a photometric inspection certificate with specific required fields (certificate number, vehicle details, VIN, plate, owner information, etc.) is contemplated by s.64 for windows found to be within limits.

Notes

Quebec is one of the few Canadian jurisdictions with an explicit numeric VLT rule directly confirmed in a primary source: Regulation respecting safety standards for road vehicles, CQLR c C-24.2, r 32, s.64, states the windows on each side of the driver's compartment must admit 70% or more light, measured with a photometer, and that no darkening/opaque material may go on the windshield except a strip up to 15 cm wide at the top. This targets the 'windows on each side of the driver's compartment' (front side windows); the regulation text reviewed did not extend this 70% figure to rear side windows or the rear window, and s.62 (a separate provision about tarnishing/fogging/obstruction, not tint darkness) applies mainly to buses transporting schoolchildren for windows behind the driver's compartment. Sources sometimes cite Highway Safety Code 's.265' as the numeric rule; the 70% figure actually lives in the regulation made under the Code (r.32, s.64), while HSC ss.264-267 set the general qualitative visibility obligations and the ban on any coating that reduces visibility on the windshield/front side windows.