CBC Marketplace Investigation Finds GTA Stores Selling E-Bikes and E-Scooters Exceeding Ontario Speed Limits
A CBC Marketplace investigation found that 10 of 12 stores visited in the Greater Toronto Area sold e-bikes or e-scooters exceeding Ontario's legal speed limits, with salespeople demonstrating how to bypass controls. The findings come amid a sharp rise in hospitalizations and deaths among young riders, prompting calls for stricter federal regulation.
A CBC Marketplace investigation has revealed that many retailers in the Greater Toronto Area are selling e-bikes and e-scooters capable of speeds well beyond Ontario’s legal limits, while also recommending devices to riders under the province's minimum age requirement.
Under Ontario law, e-scooters are limited to 24 km/h on flat surfaces, and e-bikes are capped at 32 km/h. Riders of both devices must be at least 16 years old. However, using hidden cameras, Marketplace journalists visited 12 stores across the region—including Amego, Emmo, EZbike, Best Buy, Canadian Tire, and Costco—and found that 10 of them sold e-bikes or e-scooters with maximum speeds exceeding these provincial limits.
Salespeople at six of the 12 stores demonstrated how to bypass built-in speed limiters. At Amego, a salesperson unlocked a 32 km/h limit in front of journalists, showing the bike reaching roughly 50 km/h. An EZbike salesperson stated they sell e-scooters that can reach 120 km/h, while an Emmo salesperson said they could modify an e-bike to go up to 150 km/h for off-road use. Amego later claimed it does not perform modifications and that the salesperson exaggerated the speed, despite the hidden camera footage.
The investigation also found that seven stores had e-scooters for sale with manufacturer-recommended rider ages under 16. Canadian Tire sold a Razor e-scooter recommended for children eight years or older.
These retail practices occur alongside rising injury rates among young users. Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows 150 people aged 15 and under were hospitalized for e-scooter falls in the 2025-2026 fiscal year, a 178 per cent increase from the 54 hospitalizations recorded the previous year. Head injuries related to e-scooters increased from 50 in 2022-2023 to 157 in 2025-2026. Additionally, there were 544 fractures, dislocations, and muscle injuries reported last fiscal year.
The Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program found that 10 children died from using e-scooters and e-bikes in 2025. Among those severely injured was 14-year-old Jayden King, who suffered a traumatic brain injury after losing control of his e-scooter on a speed bump in May. He spent 102 days in the hospital, including 21 days in a coma.
Roughly 372,000 e-bikes and 76,000 e-scooters have been sold in Canada so far this year. In response to the growing public health concerns, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon stated that the federal government needs to consider regulating the safety of these devices.