Canadian carrier safety ratings explained: Satisfactory to Unsatisfactory
Updated 2026-10-27
Every province rates the carriers it certifies under the National Safety Code. The names are close from province to province, but each one tells a broker something different about the risk of handing over a load.
Excellent and Satisfactory
The carrier has been audited or has a record good enough to earn the rating. It is the starting point, not the end of vetting: still confirm the insurance and that you are dealing with the real carrier.
Satisfactory Unaudited
The carrier has not been audited and has no record bad enough to lower its rating. Most new carriers sit here. It says little about how the carrier runs, so look harder at the authority age, the insurance and the identity checks.
Conditional
The province has found problems and the carrier is under conditions or monitoring. Some brokers stop at Conditional; others accept it with a recent detailed abstract, a clear explanation and tighter checks on each load.
Unsatisfactory
The carrier's certificate is or will be cancelled, and it may not operate. Do not book it. If the same people, phone numbers, addresses or trucks appear at a new carrier soon after, treat it as a chameleon.
Ratings change
A rating is a snapshot. HaulProof reads the provincial records and alerts you the same day a monitored carrier's rating drops, so a Conditional or Unsatisfactory rating doesn't reach you after the truck is loaded.
General information, not legal advice. Confirm current requirements with the province concerned.