Canada — an equipment standard, not a mandate.
Canada has done the thing that actually matters to anyone building hardware, and almost nothing else. There is no fitment mandate and no deployment programme in this record — there is a current equipment certification standard for 5.9 GHz on-board units, it replaced its predecessor in December 2025, and the transition window has closed.
One current equipment standard, and it changed in December 2025.
Canada's position in this catalogue rests on a single instrument, and it is the one that matters to anyone putting hardware into the market: RSS-252, Issue 3, published by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on 12 December 2025 and effective on publication. It sets the certification requirements for licence-exempt on-board unit radio apparatus operating in the 5895–5925 MHz band and intended for use in intelligent transport system applications.
Three things follow from reading it rather than its URL. First, Issue 3 addresses C-V2X per 3GPP Release 14; ISED's web address still carries the Issue 2 wording “Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC)”, and the Issue 3 title does not. Second, this is Category I equipment: a unit needs a Technical Acceptance Certificate from ISED's Certification and Engineering Bureau, or a certificate from a recognised certification body, before it can be sold or operated. Third, the transition is over — applications under Issue 2 or Issue 3 were accepted for six months after publication, and that window closed in June 2026.
What Canada has not done, on this record, is require anyone to fit anything. RSS-252 is a market-entry condition, not a fitment mandate. How that compares across jurisdictions →
The documents, one record each.
Each identifier links to its canonical record in the V2X standards library, where the edition, dates, band, access conditions and verification note are held once. Status and binding effect are separate: a published document is not automatically a legal requirement.
| Document | Title | Type | Status | Binding effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RSS-252 | Intelligent Transportation Systems' (ITS) On-Board Units (OBUs) in the 5895-5925 MHz Band | Conformance | Published final | Equipment condition |
Roadside units, and everything above the radio.
Roadside units are outside RSS-252. Its scope is on-board units. A Canadian instrument covering roadside equipment was not located in the verification pass behind this page, and that is recorded as a gap in our research rather than as evidence that none exists — the distinction matters, and this site does not collapse it.
Nothing in this record addresses message sets, security credentials or trust governance. Those are separate layers with separate documents, and a certification standard for a radio says nothing about any of them. The full catalogue, by document type →
Finally, and for the avoidance of any doubt: a standard existing is not a product conforming to it. Nothing on this page states or implies that Ambimat has implemented, certified, qualified or received approval under RSS-252 or any other document in this catalogue.
Where this fits.
United States
The neighbouring 5.9 GHz regime: C-V2X only, the DSRC sunset, and no fitment mandate either.
Standards library
Every document in this catalogue, filterable by country, type, status and technology.
Test and certification
What conformance to a radio standards specification is actually assessed against.
Last reviewed: 29 September 2026. RSS-252 Issue 3 was read at source on that date.
Questions this page answers.
Is V2X mandatory in Canada?
No fitment requirement is established by RSS-252 or by anything else recorded in this catalogue. RSS-252 is an equipment certification standard: it says what an on-board unit must satisfy before it may be certified and sold, not that any vehicle must carry one.
What is RSS-252 Issue 3?
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's radio standards specification for Intelligent Transportation Systems' on-board units in the 5895–5925 MHz band, published on 12 December 2025 and effective on publication. It sets the certification requirements for licence-exempt on-board unit radio apparatus in that band, and it addresses C-V2X per 3GPP Release 14.
Can I still certify to RSS-252 Issue 2?
No. Issue 3 provided a transition period ending six months after publication, during which applications under either Issue 2 or Issue 3 were accepted. That window closed in June 2026, and only Issue 3 applications are accepted now.
Does RSS-252 cover roadside units?
No. Its scope is on-board units. A Canadian instrument covering roadside units was not established in this verification pass, and its absence from this page is a gap in our research rather than evidence that none exists.
Last updated 2026-09-29 · Technical reference maintained by Ambimat Electronics, Ahmedabad, India. Corrections: neel.shah@ambimat.com