The North Canada Window Tint Laws

Canada’s Northwest Territories encompass nearly 520,000 square miles of land and thousands of miles of roadway, much of it long, open stretches where you can drive for hours without interruption. Such long drives in often unpopulated areas call for a vehicle in peak working order and that is optimized for driver safety, and part of that optimization means the proper application of window film in Northwest Territories, as window film can help improve driver performance and protect the integrity of the vehicle.
 
In The North Canada window tinting for cars, trucks, SUVs, vans, and other vehicles can help keep your automobile cooler, better protected from interior sun damage, safer against potential break-ins or damage suffered during an accident, and it can make a drive safer and more pleasant. All those benefits aside, many types of car window tint are illegal in Northwest Territories. And the fines and penalties for illegal tint in NT can be quite unpleasant.
 
As long as you are sure to use legal window film for vehicles in Northwest Territories, you can and should have window film applied on the windows if your car does not have original factory tint in place. In NT, there is not any need to check on the VLT (or visible light transmission) level of tints, because on some windows no tinting is allowed, while on the others the tint’s darkness and transparency is not regulated and any type of privacy tint can be applied.
 
We will look at each window of the car (and other auto types – all follow the same rules) in turn in order to make clear what window film is legal in Northwest Territories and what tint is illegal.
 

Windshield Window Tint in Northwest Territories

 
You are not allowed to apply any windshield tint to the front windshield of a vehicle that is registered in The North. Even the thin strip of tint that is permitted at the top of the windshield in most provinces is illegal in NT, so it’s a good idea to always have sunglasses handy, especially during the long, bright Northwest Territories summers, when sunlight is often angled down toward your eyes for many hours of the day.
 

Front Side Window Tint In Northwest Territories

 
Window tinting is completely illegal on the front side windows of any privately owned car, truck, or SUV in The North. That means the windows situated next to the driver and by the shotgun seat must be completely free of window tint. While this is an annoyance for many drivers, there are logical reasons to prohibit tint on these windows, such as the fact that clear windows allow police or other authorities to be able to look into the cabin and ensure their safety during traffic stops or when investigating a parked vehicle.
 
Though window tinting film is banned on front side windows, you are allowed to apply optically clear UV-blocking window film on the front side windows, so you can still protect the cabin of your car and your own skin and eyes from UV light ray damage.
 

Back Side Window Tint in Northwest Territories

 
The windows on the sides of a vehicle located behind the driver’s seat can be tinted down to any darkness, including blackout privacy tint. This is the case for the back row in a sedan or for the multiple seating rows in vans or in larger SUVs. This rear side window tinting is allowed to be so dark it completely blocks the view into the cabin, which can keep occupant identity private and helps the possessions stored in the vehicle to be protected from the sight of any potential thieves who may try to break in while a car is parked.
 

Rear Window Tint in Northwest Territories

 
As with the rear side windows of vehicles in NT, the rear window (also called the rear windshield in some cases) of a vehicle in Northwest Territories can be tinted down to any darkness, including blackout privacy from the outside.
 

Other Northwest Territories Car Tint Laws

 
The rules are easy to follow when it comes to which windows of vehicles can be tinted in NT, but there are more details to know about car tint law in Northwest Territories.
 
For example, all reflective window tinting is banned in Northwest Territories, and so multiple colors of window film are therefore prohibited, like metallic or mirror finish window films.
 
No medical exemptions are permitted for darker tint in NT, so don’t bother seeking a work around note from a doctor OK’ing darker tint than allowed by the current tint laws in NT. Certificates and stickers that prove window film is legal are not needed in NT.
 
And unlike in many parts of Canada car window tint laws in NT do not require side view mirrors with rear window tinting, though they are always highly advised.
 

Illegal Window Tint Penalties in Northwest Territories

 
If a police officer identifies illegal tint on a car in The North window tint ticket costs and penalties can vary, from an immediate monetary fine to a “fix it ticket” wherein you can avoid a penalty if you remove your illegal tint and prove you did so in a timely manner.
 
Sticking with legal car window tint in The North in Canada is always cheaper and wiser than risking citations for illegal tint, so take pains to get legal window tint installed in the first place.