Ontario Window Tinting Laws Explained

Not the full windshield. The only windshield film MTO's inspection standard allows is a strip across the top: no more than 75mm (about 3 inches) down from the top edge and not past the AS line marked on the glass. For vehicles built on or after January 1, 2017 that standard rejects any aftermarket windshield film at all, including the strip.

Yes, on request, usually LLumar AIR 80, which is close to invisible. We will not call it legal. A fully tinted windshield is not street legal in Ontario at any shade, including clear heat-rejection film. It can be ticketed under Highway Traffic Act section 73 or 74 and it can fail a safety inspection. If you choose it, any ticket, fine, or removal order is yours to carry, and we say that before the job starts.

The Highway Traffic Act names no percentage. The 70% figure comes from MTO's Passenger/Light-Duty Vehicle Inspection Standard, which tells an inspector to reject a vehicle built on or after January 1, 2017 if light transmittance is under 70% on a window directly left or right of the driver. Transmittance is measured through the glass and the film together, so factory glass counts toward the number. At the roadside an officer is judging whether your view is clear and whether they can see into the car.

In practice, yes. There is no transmittance number for rear side windows or the rear windshield, and section 73(3) does not reach them. The general obstruction rules in sections 73(1) and 73(2) still cover every window on the car, and section 74(1)(b) wants a clear view to the rear unless you have side mirrors that give the driver a clear reflected view behind. Almost every vehicle does.

Not one we can point to. Sections 73 and 74 of the Highway Traffic Act contain no medical exception, and MTO's inspection standard does not list one. Plenty of tint pages say you can apply through the Ministry of Transportation, but we have not found the program behind that claim. If you have a medical reason for darker glass, ask MTO directly before you spend money on film.