Are electric skateboards legal in Yukon?
No statute names the device. Yukon does something no other Canadian jurisdiction we have read does: it takes every slow self-propelled personal device out of the motor vehicle definition by speed alone. The line is 20 km/h. The electric skateboard is never named, so where a given board lands depends on what it was designed to do — and most boards sold today are designed to go faster than that.
What the law says
| What the text says | Section | |
|---|---|---|
| The motor vehicle definition | “Motor vehicle” means “a vehicle, other than an excluded motor vehicle, that is self-propelled except by muscular power and is designed to be operated on a roadway and includes a motor cycle”. Two conditions, then: self-propelled, and designed for a roadway. | Motor Vehicles Act, RSY 2002, c 153, ss 1, 39(1), 145 |
| What is excluded | The list of excluded motor vehicles opens with “(a) an electric power-assisted cycle, (b) an off-road vehicle, (c) a snowmobile, (d) a personal mobility device”. It is the fourth item that matters for a board. | Motor Vehicles Act, RSY 2002, c 153, ss 1, 39(1), 145 |
| ⚠ The 20 km/h device | A “personal mobility device” means “a device that is self-propelled except by muscular power and is designed for transport of a person at a maximum speed of 20 kilometres per hour and includes (a) a wheel chair, (b) a man lift, (c) a personal transporter, and (d) any other prescribed vehicle”. The skateboard is not in the list. The test in the definition is design speed — and the text does not say how a board built to go faster, or one that can be set to 20 km/h in an app, is to be classed. Neither do we. | Motor Vehicles Act, RSY 2002, c 153, ss 1, 39(1), 145 |
| A motor vehicle must be registered | “No person who is the owner of a motor vehicle or trailer shall operate or suffer or permit any other person to operate the motor vehicle or trailer on a highway at any time during which that owner is not the holder of a subsisting certificate of registration or permit issued pursuant to this Act”. A board that is not a personal mobility device and is a motor vehicle is caught; the Act does not say whether one can be registered. | Motor Vehicles Act, RSY 2002, c 153, ss 1, 39(1), 145 |
| Off-road boards | An “off-road vehicle” — also excluded — is one “designed or adapted for cross-country travel”. An all-terrain board may raise the question; we note the wording and do not classify any product. | Motor Vehicles Act, RSY 2002, c 153, ss 1, 39(1), 145 |
| Sidewalks | “Except as may be provided for by a municipal bylaw pursuant to section 126, no person shall drive any vehicle into, across, or along any boulevard, ditch, or sidewalk except at proper and lawful vehicular crossings provided therefor.” | Motor Vehicles Act, RSY 2002, c 153, ss 1, 39(1), 145 |
| What this does not tell you | We read the Motor Vehicles Regulations as well: no device has been prescribed into or out of the personal mobility class, and nothing there names a skateboard or a scooter. Whitehorse and other municipalities write their own bylaws, and this page does not cover them. | Motor Vehicles Regulations, CO 1978/120 |
Each row is the statute's own content, reduced to plain wording where it is long and quoted directly where the exact words matter. The section in the last column is a link to the text.
Sources
-
Motor Vehicles Act, RSY 2002, c 153, ss 1, 39(1), 145 — Definitions — motor vehicle, excluded motor vehicle, personal mobility device; registration; vehicular crossings.
Official source, read 2026-09-24.
Unofficial consolidation published by Yukon’s Legislative Counsel Office, amended through SY 2024, c 10. The site refuses scripted downloads; read in a browser. An older copy at /acts/move.pdf still shows the 2002 text without the personal mobility device — do not rely on it. -
Motor Vehicles Regulations, CO 1978/120 — Motor Vehicles Regulations.
Official source, read 2026-09-24.
Consolidation read in full-text search for “skateboard”, “scooter”, “personal mobility” and “personal transporter”: no hit.
Every source on this page is the text as published by the legislature or the state agency itself. Open them.
How Yukon compares
The same four questions, across every jurisdiction whose primary sources we have read. Each row links to its own page and its own citations.
| Jurisdiction | Status | Helmet | Speed limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yukon | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Alabama | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Alaska | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Arizona | Named only | no rule naming the device | — |
| Arkansas | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| California | Regulated | Required at every age: a properly fitted and fastened bicycle helmet meeting the standard | Not above 15 mph on a highway, bikeway, public bicycle path, |
| Colorado | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Connecticut | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Delaware | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Florida | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Georgia | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Hawaii | Unaddressed | “No person under eighteen years of age shall operate a skateboard upon a street, roadway, | — |
| Idaho | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Illinois | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Indiana | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Iowa | Regulated | no rule naming the device | — |
| Kansas | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Kentucky | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Louisiana | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Maine | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Maryland | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | Maryland’s stand-up electric class requires a vehicle that “ |
| Massachusetts | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Michigan | Regulated | “A person less than 19 years of age operating an electric skateboard shall wear a crash he | — |
| Minnesota | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Mississippi | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Missouri | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Montana | Regulated | no rule naming the device | — |
| Nebraska | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Nevada | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| New Hampshire | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| New Jersey | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | The 2019 class that New Jersey does allow on the road is def |
| New Mexico | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| New York | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| North Carolina | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| North Dakota | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Ohio | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | “Vehicle” does not include “any low-speed micromobility devi |
| Oklahoma | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Oregon | Unaddressed | It is an offence if a person “is under 16 years of age, rides on a skateboard or scooter o | — |
| Pennsylvania | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Rhode Island | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| South Carolina | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| South Dakota | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Tennessee | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Texas | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Utah | Regulated | “An individual under 21 years old may not operate or ride the following on a highway unles | — |
| Vermont | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Virginia | Regulated | no rule naming the device | — |
| Washington | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| West Virginia | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Wisconsin | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Wyoming | Named only | no rule naming the device | — |
| Alberta | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| British Columbia | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Manitoba | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| New Brunswick | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Northwest Territories | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Nova Scotia | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Nunavut | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Ontario | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Prince Edward Island | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Quebec | Regulated | Required. A rigid shell, padded inside, with a chin strap, correctly fitted and firmly fas | Maximum rated power 500 W, combined across motors, and the d |
| Saskatchewan | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | A “limited speed motor vehicle” is “any motor vehicle that h |
The spread is the point. These are neighbouring jurisdictions regulating the same object, and they do not agree on what it is, how fast it may go, who may ride it, or whether it may be ridden at all. A rider who crosses a state line is, quite often, subject to a different legal category rather than a stricter version of the same one — which is why a single national answer to this question does not exist and why anyone offering you one has stopped reading the law.
It also explains why so many rows say the device is unaddressed. Most vehicle codes were written before this machine existed, and a legislature that has not revisited them has not thereby permitted anything — it has left the question to a general classification and to your city.
What this page does not tell you
- It is not legal advice, and it never says you may ride. It says what the statute says, and links it.
- It does not cover municipal law. Cities regulate sidewalks, parks, paths and often these devices by name. Those rules sit on top of everything above.
- It does not cover private property, insurance, or what happens after an accident.
- It may be out of date. Every source carries the day we read it. A statute amended since then will not have updated itself here.
Other jurisdictions: the full list. Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas
Questions this raises
Are electric skateboards legal in Yukon?
No law we can find defines an electric skateboard. What applies instead is a general vehicle classification and, in practice, your municipality. Yukon does something no other Canadian jurisdiction we have read does: it takes every slow self-propelled personal device out of the motor vehicle definition by speed alone. The line is 20 km/h. The electric skateboard is never named, so where a given board lands depends on what it was designed to do — and most boards sold today are designed to go faster than that.
Do I need a helmet in Yukon?
No rule naming this device addresses helmets in the sources we have read for Yukon. Your municipality may have one.
How fast am I allowed to go in Yukon?
No speed limit specific to this device appears in the sources we have read for Yukon.
Does this cover city rules?
No. This page reads state or provincial law only. Municipal codes frequently add rules — on sidewalks, parks and paths especially — and where the state has written nothing, the city has written everything.
How do I check this myself?
Open the links in the sources below. Every row in the table above names the section it comes from, and every source shows the date we read it. That is the whole point of the page: you should not have to take our word for it.