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• The rule requiring CSA hockey helmets at Toronto rinks is not based on a provincial or federal law. This requirement for Canadian-only helmet certification is probably illegal under article 603 of the Free Trade Agreement.

Part of Sources/References: Helmets

Andrew Morrison and Kernaghan Webb: Bicycle Helmet Standards and Hockey Helmet Regulations: Two Approaches to Safety Protection - Chapter 11 Taken from : http://carleton.ca/sppa/wp-content/uploads/ch11.pdf

In Chapter Six of the FTA (which came into effect on January 1, 1989), Canada and the U.S. pledged not to introduce product standards that would create unnecessary barriers to trade between the two countries. As a result, Canada can only introduce standards -related regulations if it can demonstrate that the purpose of doing so is to achieve health and safety objectives. When the proposal for regulation [of bicycle helmets] was reviewed, concerns surfaced that referential incorporation of the CSA standard into the Hazardous Products Act might constitute a trade barrier contrary to article 603. Although it was suggested that the regulation could be justified under the health and safety exception, there was no concrete evidence that the CSA standard was superior to the major American standards. The possibility of a trade dispute over a regulation that was ultimately considered to be unnecessary to achieve its safety objective, was yet another reason for withdrawing the proposal to regulate.