Can I drive my own car with mexican plates in Canada? For how long?
I am a dual Canadian and EU citizen living in central america. I bought a new car in Mexico, have mexican tags and insurance that has coverage for Mexico, Usa and Canada up to 100k USD (is this enough?). I am planning to drive up to Canada for a short visit, one month or maybe two. The confusion starts here.
I have a EU drivers license, haven´t been to Canada for 20 years. I know that my EU drivers license is valid in Canada (at least Ontario province) for a maximum of 2 months. Is this correct? Then the next question is if I can legally drive the mexican car as a canadian citizen with canadian passport but without a canadian drivers license a mexican plated car for a short period of time in Canada without facing any problems at the border or then inland? In the US it is quite clear with a valid insurance for the US. I appreciate any information also for the same questions regarding USA, but specifically Canada. Thanks.
Best Answer
i don’t know that I have a complete answer but I do have some comments...
Your insurance is very low. $2 million is the current recommended best coverage in Canada.
You will need to convince the border agents that, even though you are Canadian (and you must enter as such) you are just visiting and not returning as a resident. If they think the latter then they will treat the car as if you’re importing it, and it will not meet Cdn standards. If you’re planning to work here, or if you have family or other ties, they could say you are returning and establishing residency. This could have tax implications, on top of the car complications.
If there’s one really odd thing that might stand out, it’s that your driver’s licence is not from the place you are currently resident. All the US states and Cdn provinces require that you get their DL within some weeks of establishing residency, and you are only supposed to have one valid license at a time. Does your current country of residence not require this?
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How long can Mexican car stay in Canada?
It must then pass an inspection by the Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV) in Canada before it can be officially considered imported. This must be done within 45 days, or one year in the case of a salvage vehicle.Can I drive a Mexican plated car?
Mexican nationals may run into trouble when driving foreign plated cars. Mexico is a country that also does not allow its own citizens to drive foreign plated vehicles. Save a few exceptions, when someone has permanent resident status in Mexico they cannot legally keep a non-Mexican plated vehicle inside Mexico.How long a car can be used in Canada?
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Americans and Canadians cross the border in both directions with temporary tags all the time and it is perfectly legal to do so as long so long as you aren't importing the vehicle permanently into either country.Should you take your car to Mexico?
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Answer 2
You can drive on foreign insurance and registration as long as it is legal for you to do so. For Canada, as long as you are not taking up residency and your Mexican jurisdiction does not deem you to have given up residency, you will be fine. Not taking employment in Canada? You won't be a resident.
As for limits, all Canadian provinces and territories require a minimum of $200,000 Cdn of third party liability coverage with a combined single limit for both property damage and third party liability coverage, so $100,000 US will not suffice. You will also have to get a Canadian Interprovincial Motor Vehicle Liability certificate ("pink card", even though they are not always pink anymore) from your insurer to document that your insurance meets Canadian requirements.
You will have to check with the Mexican jurisdiction where you have registered your vehicle as to whether you can legally operate this vehicle outside of that Mexican state as a presumed non-resident of that state. If you are indeed a resident of that state, you probably ought to (and may need to) have a driver's license from that Mexican state.
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