# Are Dash Cams Legal in Canada and the US? Laws by State Dash cams are legal across Canada and the US. The laws differ on windshield mounting and audio consent, and fleets should tell drivers about camera policy. Source: https://www.highpointgps.com/resources/dash-cam-laws-by-state-and-ontario By Max Karnaukh, VP of Sales, published 2026-08-31, updated 2026-10-13 ## Are Dash Cams Legal in the US and Canada? Yes, dash cam laws across the US and Canada let you own and operate a dash cam: commercial fleets use them routinely, and no jurisdiction bans them outright. The rules that change from place to place are narrower: where you may mount the camera on or near the windshield, and whether you can record audio inside the cab without consent. Fleets have a third, practical layer on top of both, which is telling the drivers being recorded what the camera policy is. So for a fleet the useful questions are specific. Does your mounting position meet this jurisdiction's obstruction rules? Does your audio setting meet its consent rules? Get those two settings right and the policy is compliant almost everywhere you drive. ## What Do Dash Cam Laws Say About Windshield Mounting? Many US states restrict objects on the windshield because they can block the driver's view. Some spell out exactly where a device may sit, often a small square in a lower corner of the glass, and others require dashboard mounting instead. California, for example, allows small squares in the lower corners or at the top centre of the windshield, while stricter states effectively push the camera onto the dash. If your trucks cross state lines, pick one mounting standard that satisfies the strictest state on your routes and you are covered on all of them. Ontario gets to the same place through the Highway Traffic Act rules against obstructing a driver's view. A dash cam is legal there as long as it doesn't block the driver's sightline. Fleets usually stay onside by mounting the camera behind the rear-view mirror or low on the windshield, and that is a sensible default in the other Canadian provinces too. ![Diagram of what happens after a dash cam event: trigger, clip saved, upload over LTE, review and coaching](https://www.highpointgps.com/images/figures/dashcam-event-flow.webp) *From a harsh event to a coached driver: the clip, with speed and location beside it, reaches the manager within minutes.* ## Can a Dash Cam Record Audio in the Cab? Audio carries most of the legal risk, because the law treats it as recording a conversation, a different matter from filming a road. Several US states are all-party (sometimes called two-party) consent states, where every person in a recorded conversation has to agree to it. In those states, an in-cab camera that captures audio without the driver's and any passenger's knowledge can create a legal problem even when the video is fine. Many fleets switch in-cab audio off, or limit it to short windows around a safety event, and avoid the issue altogether. In Canada, recording a private conversation you are not part of can run into the Criminal Code's interception provisions, so consent matters for in-cab audio there as well. The approach is the same on both sides of the border: if you capture audio, get informed consent from the people being recorded, and if you don't need audio, turn it off. Road-facing video, and cab-facing video used for safety detection, carry far less risk than the audio track. ## Do Fleets Have to Tell Drivers About Dash Cams? For a commercial fleet, the strongest legal footing comes from disclosure more than from any statute. Tell drivers in writing that the vehicles have cameras, what they record (road-facing, cab-facing, audio on or off), when footage is captured, who can view it and how long you keep it. That settles most of the consent question before it turns into a dispute. It also tends to lower driver resistance, since drivers usually object to being recorded in secret, and far less to a camera that protects them after a crash. Make the camera policy a document each driver acknowledges, and keep it out of the back pages of a handbook. A signed acknowledgment that the driver knows the vehicle records, and on what terms, is a courtesy and the paperwork in one. It keeps a well-meant safety program from turning into a consent complaint later. ## One Cross-Border Camera Setting That Works Everywhere A fleet running anywhere in Canada and the United States can satisfy every jurisdiction on its routes with one configuration, without writing a policy for each state. Mount the camera behind the rear-view mirror, inside the wiper sweep and outside the driver's sightline. That position meets the strictest windshield-obstruction rules on its routes as well as Ontario's Highway Traffic Act. Turn in-cab audio off, which removes the all-party consent question in the states that have one and the Criminal Code question in Canada, and only turn it on with written consent for a specific purpose. Record the road continuously to the card and the cab only around events, with privacy mode in the sleeper and when the driver is off duty. Before installation, have every driver sign a policy that states all of this, in French and English if the fleet is bilingual. High Point GPS installs to this configuration by default for cross-border fleets and changes it only where a fleet's own policy asks for more. ## FAQ ### Are dash cams legal in the US and Canada? Yes. Dash cams are legal to own and use throughout the US and Canada, and commercial fleets use them widely. What varies by jurisdiction is where you can mount the camera on the windshield and whether you can record audio without consent. No jurisdiction bans the cameras themselves, so the legal work is in how you set them up. ### Where am I allowed to mount a dash cam on the windshield? That depends on the jurisdiction's view-obstruction rules. Some US states allow a small area in the lower corners of the windshield, others effectively require dashboard mounting, and Ontario requires that the camera not block the driver's view. A fleet that picks one mounting standard meeting the strictest state on its routes stays compliant everywhere. ### Can a dash cam record audio inside the cab? It can, but audio is where consent rules apply most. In all-party consent states, and under Canada's interception rules, recording a conversation without consent can become a legal problem. Many fleets turn in-cab audio off or limit it to short windows around a safety event, and those that keep it get informed consent from everyone recorded. ### Does a fleet need to tell drivers about dash cams? Disclosure is the strongest practical protection a fleet has. A written policy that says what the cameras record, when, who can view the footage and how long it is kept, signed by each driver, settles most consent concerns. It also reduces driver resistance, since the usual objection is to secret recording. ## Sources - [California Vehicle Code 26708 (windshield obstruction)](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=26708.&lawCode=VEH) - [Criminal Code of Canada, Section 184 (interception of communications)](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-184.html)