Transport Canada’s monthly dataset contains 405 unique recall notices dated January through August 2026. Structure, seats and restraints, electrical systems, lights and instruments, and visual systems were the five largest official system labels in the deduplicated notice count.
Important: recall counts do not rank reliability. A notice can cover one model or many, and manufacturers differ in fleet size, model range and campaign structure.
Recall notices by official system
| Official Transport Canada system | Unique recall notices | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | 47 | 11.6% |
| Seats And Restraints | 46 | 11.4% |
| Electrical | 44 | 10.9% |
| Lights And Instruments | 40 | 9.9% |
| Visual System | 35 | 8.6% |
| Brakes | 26 | 6.4% |
| Powertrain | 25 | 6.2% |
| Label | 21 | 5.2% |
| High Voltage | 18 | 4.4% |
| Suspension | 15 | 3.7% |
| Other | 14 | 3.5% |
| Fuel System | 14 | 3.5% |
Monthly recall activity in 2026
| Month | Unique notices |
|---|---|
| 2026-01 | 40 |
| 2026-02 | 47 |
| 2026-03 | 63 |
| 2026-04 | 64 |
| 2026-05 | 46 |
| 2026-06 | 54 |
| 2026-07 | 54 |
| 2026-08 | 37 |
How Motorz.ca built the dataset
- Downloaded Transport Canada’s monthly Vehicle Recalls Database on September 10, 2026.
- Filtered RECALL_DATE_DTE to 2026.
- Deduplicated notice counts by RECALL_NUMBER_NUM because the CSV repeats a recall across model rows.
- Used Transport Canada’s SYSTEM_TYPE_ETXT labels without silently mapping them into new editorial categories.
- Preserved model-level rows in the downloadable working dataset for reproducibility.
What owners should do
Search Transport Canada’s recall database, then check the manufacturer’s Canadian VIN lookup or contact a dealer. Model and model year alone do not prove a particular vehicle is included; VIN confirmation is the appropriate owner-level check. Follow the official remedy and any interim safety instruction in the recall notice.
For current owner-action notices, use the September 2026 Recall Watch. For lookup steps, use the Vehicle Recalls hub. This page owns year-to-date data patterns, not current alerts.
Limitations
- The monthly file is updated and historical records may change.
- Notice counts are not vehicles affected and must not be added as if they were.
- A manufacturer count would require fleet-size and campaign context, so no “worst automaker” ranking is presented.
- The analysis covers notices through August 2026, not the complete calendar year.