Tinted windows: the benefits and potential legal pitfalls

Anyone looking for a cool new look for their ride should know what’s legally allowed. CTV’s Spencer Turcotte clears things up.

Glass specialists and installers across southwestern Ontario are being kept busy by rising demand for tinted vehicle windows.

But experts want to clear up the benefits, and potential legal ramifications, of opting for a darker look.

Ben Hallman, an auto manager at All-Brite Glass and Tint, said auto tinting goes beyond aesthetics.

“It’s keeping the heat out of the cars,” Hallman explained. “Your AC in the car works more efficiently.”

It can also help to reduce glare when installed properly.

“The highrises and the way the buildings are, the glass themselves are reflecting into the driver’s view,” he said.

However, there is a legal limit that sets out how dark that tint can be.

“Some of our officers carry window tint meters,” Staff Sgt. Scott Griffiths, with the Waterloo Regional Police Service, said. “This is a meter that detects the amount of light being transmitted through a piece of glass.”

In Ontario, drivers cannot have any tint whatsoever on their front windshield, but there is no stipulation for rear or back windows.

Meanwhile, tint installed on the front side windows must not exceed a certain threshold.

“Any vehicle produced after 2017 cannot have tint on the [front] side windows that exceeds 30 per cent. That is to say, no more than 30 per cent of the light can be blocked by the film that’s on there,” Griffiths explained.

The rules are in place to ensure officers can identify someone inside a vehicle and determine whether they pose a threat to an officer or the public by doing things such as texting and driving.

The fine for obfuscating the passenger or driver’s front windows, or the windshield, is $110.