Chicco KeyFit: good in Canada?

Is it safe to buy a Chicco KeyFit in the US and bring it back to Canada?

It is top-rated in Consumers Report, but it appears that it may not be approved by Transport Canada and have a National Safety Mark.

It may be safe, but it's not legal. If you were caught using the seat, you could be fined. Seats used in Canada must be approved by Transport Canada to meet Canada's standards.

uwo93 said:

Is it safe to buy a Chicco KeyFit in the US and bring it back to Canada?

It is top-rated in Consumers Report, but it appears that it may not be approved by Transport Canada and have a National Safety Mark.

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Nope, it's not approved for use in Canada.

Consumer Reports really isn't a good resource for car seat selection information mainly due to their testing methods that are sometimes questionable, and because the seats are rated without much detail, so you don't really know why a specific seat may be rated better than another. The triumph was a top pick when they did convertible's a few years ago, yet it has top slots that aren't usually tall enough to get kids to booster age, and a very short back of the seat shell so kids can't rf in it as long as many other seats. Also, many people truly hate the memory harness in it - and it doesn't take into account fit to vehicle or child... In the same report, they failed one of the Britax convertibles for over-rotation. Something that shows up easily in a heavy child if the recline isn't properly checked when the seat is installed...

If you do a search you'll find all sorts of info on Consumer Reports and their car seat recommendations & just what issues there often are with their testing. The most recent infant seat tests were more transparent than previous tests, but it's important to keep in mind that they're not experts in car seats. The basic mechanics of toasters don't really change - car seats is a very specialized area & one that is constantly changing. It's impossible to make a blanket recommendation for any one specific seat that all parents are best off buying... you'll often see the same seats recommended first off here, but you also get reasoning, and complete lists of other seats that fit what a parent is looking for. And the recommendations given by techs here are based on installation experience in multiple vehicles and seeing how babies fit in it in multiple vehicles. Using a seat every day vs. testing a seat once is quite different.

Although the chicco Keyfit is a nice seat and one of the top 2 or 3 recommended on the boards here to US residents. But since it's not approved for use in Canada it's not an option here.

Adding that cost of a carseat is part of CR rating, therefore seats like Britax would not score as well as less expensive seats.

thank you for your input!

okay the Chicco is out. I will check out the Britax.

Re: thank you for your input!

uwo93 said:

okay the Chicco is out. I will check out the Britax.

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You mean a Britax infant carseat? None is available in Canada either.

Canadian infant seats by Graco, Evenflo, Safety 1st, Cosco, Eddie Bauer, Peg Perego and now Combi. The Graco SafeSeat is worth looking at with 30 lbs limit, longer body, built-in lock-off, etc.