Hours of Service Rules for Canadian Truck Drivers: A 2026 Plain-English Guide

Canadian Hours of Service (HOS) rules are governed federally by Transport Canada under the Hours of Service Regulations (SOR/2005-313, as amended). They apply to commercial vehicles over 4,500 kg GVW operating across provincial borders or on federally regulated routes. Provincial-only operations — drivers who never cross a provincial border — may be subject to slightly different rules under provincial transport legislation, but federal rules apply to the vast majority of Canadian commercial drivers.

Most violations that get carriers cited or fined come from misunderstanding the rules — not from deliberate non-compliance. This guide explains what the rules actually say and what they mean for your daily schedule.

The two operating cycles

Canadian HOS allows carriers to choose between two operating cycles. The cycle you use determines your total weekly driving allowance and your reset requirements.

Cycle 1: Maximum 70 hours of driving over any 7 consecutive days. To reset (start a fresh 7-day cycle), you must take a minimum of 36 consecutive hours off duty. Most regional and short- haul carriers use Cycle 1 because the weekly limit is sufficient and the reset is shorter.

Cycle 2: Maximum 120 hours of driving over any 14 consecutive days. To reset, you must take a minimum of 72 consecutive hours off duty. Long-haul drivers who work extended periods and need more weekly flexibility use Cycle 2. The longer cycle allows more driving hours per week on average, but the reset requirement (72 hours) is substantially longer.

You can switch between Cycle 1 and Cycle 2, but you must take the reset appropriate to your current cycle before starting the other. You cannot simply switch mid-week to get more hours.

Daily driving limits

Regardless of which cycle you use, the daily limits are the same. These are the hard limits you cannot exceed on any single shift.

• Maximum 13 hours of driving after at least 8 consecutive hours off duty. Once you've driven 13 hours since your last qualifying rest, you must stop driving — even if you haven't been on duty for 14 hours yet.
• No driving after 14 hours of on-duty time in a single day. "On duty" includes driving time, loading and unloading, fuelling, paperwork, inspections, and any other work activity. It does not include off-duty time, sleeper berth time, or personal conveyance.
• Minimum 8 consecutive hours off duty between shifts. You cannot start a new shift until you've had 8 straight hours off — not 8 hours total, but 8 consecutive.

The practical daily limit for most drivers is the 13+14 rule: you can drive up to 13 hours within a 14-hour on-duty window. If you've been on duty for 14 hours but only driven 10, you still cannot drive anymore — the 14-hour clock is a hard stop regardless of driving time.

Mandatory breaks

Canadian HOS requires a 30-minute break within the first 8 hours of driving. This break can be taken as off-duty time or as sleeper berth time — it does not need to be a formal "rest stop," but it must be recorded on your log as off-duty or sleeper berth for at least 30 consecutive minutes.

If you plan to drive 8 hours or less in a shift, no mandatory break is required (though common sense and fatigue management suggest otherwise). The break requirement is triggered by the plan or reality of driving beyond 8 hours.

Sleeper berth provisions

If your truck is equipped with a compliant sleeper berth (minimum dimensions apply under the regulations), you have additional flexibility in how you split your off-duty time.

The core sleeper berth provision allows you to split your 10-hour mandatory daily rest into two periods:

• A minimum of 8 hours in the sleeper berth, and
• A minimum of 2 hours either off duty or in the sleeper berth

Both periods must be taken — neither can be shortened below the minimums — and together they must add up to at least 10 hours. During the shorter period (the 2-hour minimum), you are not required to be in the sleeper berth, but you cannot be driving. The two periods do not need to be consecutive.

The sleeper berth split is how many long-haul teams manage driving coverage — one driver sleeps while the other drives, then they switch. Both drivers keep separate logs.

Log requirements

Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) have been mandatory for most commercial carriers since January 2023 in Canada. Your ELD must be certified and registered with Transport Canada. It automatically records on-duty, driving, and off-duty time using the vehicle's engine data.

Exemptions where paper logs are still permitted:

• Vehicles with a model year prior to 2000
• Drive-away/tow-away operations
• Short-haul operations meeting specific criteria (see below)
• Rented commercial vehicles used for fewer than 8 days in a 30-day period

All logs — paper or electronic — must be retained for a minimum of 6 months. Roadside officers can demand the last 14 days of logs during an inspection. Your ELD must allow officers to transfer data via USB or Bluetooth.

Short-haul exemption

The short-haul exemption is the most commonly misunderstood rule in Canadian HOS. It applies only if all of the following conditions are met:

• You return to your home terminal at the end of every shift
• You operate within a 160 km radius of your home terminal
• You do not drive more than 13 hours in a day
• You do not remain on duty more than 14 hours
• You take at least 8 consecutive hours off before the next shift

If you qualify, you are exempt from the ELD requirement and the mandatory break rule. However, you must still track your on-duty and driving time manually, and you must be able to demonstrate compliance if stopped at a roadside inspection. Keeping a simple log even when exempt is good practice.

Common violations that get carriers dinged

Understanding what roadside officers look for helps you avoid the most common — and most expensive — compliance failures.

• Driving after cycle limit: Logging software should prevent this automatically if used correctly, but manual log errors still result in this violation regularly.
• Not recording on-duty non-driving time: Fuelling, loading, inspections, and waiting at a shipper's dock all count as on-duty time and must be logged. Drivers who only log driving time are routinely out of compliance without knowing it.
• Failing to take the mandatory 8-hour rest: Starting a new shift before the 8-hour minimum has elapsed is a direct violation regardless of how many hours remain in your cycle.
• ELD tampering: Attempting to manipulate ELD data is a federal offence with significant penalties for both the driver and the carrier.
• Driving through a daily reset without documentation: If you take your reset at a truck stop and the ELD records no movement, ensure the off-duty periods are correctly logged with location information.

Cross-border note: US HOS rules differ

When you cross into the United States, FMCSA HOS rules apply — not Canadian rules. The differences are significant:

• US: 11 hours maximum driving (vs. 13 in Canada)
• US: 14-hour on-duty window (same as Canada)
• US: 10-hour reset required (vs. 8 in Canada)
• US: 60/70-hour cycle over 7/8 days (vs. 70/120 over 7/14 days in Canada)

Most ELD systems support both Canadian and US rulesets. You switch ruleset at the border crossing and keep logs accordingly. Officers on both sides of the border can review your logs, so compliance with the correct ruleset in each jurisdiction is essential.

Questions about HOS compliance and how it affects your routing and scheduling? Learn more about working with TRUCC — we help owner-operators navigate the administrative side of commercial trucking so you can focus on driving.