Transporting Children

Under Ontario law, children must be strapped into a government-approved child safety seat if they are passengers in a moving vehicle. Child safety seats (also called child restraints) are always installed in the backseat of a vehicle and as far away from side door air bags as possible.

A child's age, weight and height determine the type of seat that should be used:

• Birth to 9 kilograms (20 pounds): Newborns and infants must be strapped into a seat that faces the back of the vehicle.
• 9 to 18 kilograms (20-40 pounds): Children must be strapped into a child safety seat but can ride facing forward.
• 18 to 36 kilograms (40-80 pounds): Children who have outgrown a child car seat must use a booster seat until they are eight years of age, 36 kilograms (80 pounds) or 145 centimetres tall (4 ft. 9 in.).
• 8 to 13 years: Children can start using seatbelts. For safety reasons, children should ride in the backseat until they are 13 years of age to avoid possible injury if an air bag deploys.

Child safety seats can be purchased at many different retail outlets in Kingston. The seat must have a Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) sticker to ensure it meets government safety standards.

Many communities hold regular car seat safety clinics to ensure that child restraint systems have been properly installed. These clinics are free and open to everyone. Information about car seat clinics in Kingston is available from the Kingston and District Safety Council and Kingston Frontenac Lennox & Addington Public Health (KFL&A Public Health).

Some Kingston taxi companies have cars with child safety seats available on request. Child safety seats are not required on city buses or inter-city trains and city buses.