Winter Tires Canada10 years. That is the outer limit two independent Canadian sources state for a tire, counted from the week it was made, not from the day it was bought or first fitted. Ontario's Official MTO Driver's Handbook says tires should not be older than 10 years. Michelin Canada says the same for winter tires specifically: tires older than 10 years from their manufacture date should not be on a vehicle. The useful detail sits in front of that limit, because a second number, five years, marks where professional inspection enters the schedule.
General information only: age guidance varies by manufacturer and by vehicle maker. The figures below are attributed to the source that states each one, and the owner's manual for the specific vehicle and tire governs where it differs.
The numbers first: inspection point and outer limit
| Source | Inspection point | Outer limit |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario MTO Driver's Handbook (official) | No age-based inspection year stated | Tires should not be older than 10 years |
| Michelin Canada, winter tire lifespan guide | Professional inspection advised when a problem is suspected; tread checked regularly | 10 years from the manufacture date, even if never driven or stored in pristine conditions |
| Bridgestone, tire FAQ | Qualified inspection after 5 years of use, spares included | Replace all tires, including spares, manufactured more than 10 years ago, even if they look usable and tread remains |
| Continental, sidewall guide | Follow the vehicle manufacturer's instructions | After 10 years, all tires must be replaced, including unused spares; some vehicle makers recommend replacement at 6 years from manufacture |
That table is the correction to the single-number answers elsewhere. Five years is an inspection trigger in Bridgestone's guidance, not a replacement date. Six years appears as a recommendation from some vehicle manufacturers, reported by Continental with the caution that the recommendation can vary. Ten years is the replacement limit that the Ontario handbook, Michelin Canada, Bridgestone, and Continental all land on, each counted from manufacture.
So there is no single fixed year at which every winter tire expires by law in the sources above. There is a schedule: inspect with professional help in the middle years, and treat the tenth year from the sidewall date as the end, whatever the tread looks like.
Two clocks: age is not tread depth
A winter tire runs on two separate clocks, and they expire independently. The tread clock is familiar. Transport Canada says not to use tires worn close to 4 mm of tread depth on snow-covered roads. A high-mileage driver can reach that point in a few seasons, long before age matters.
The age clock runs differently.
Ontario's handbook states it directly: tires deteriorate with age, even when not in use, and aged tires have reduced traction, are more prone to cracking, and may fail unexpectedly in use. Continental's sidewall guide gives the mechanism in plain terms: rubber degrades over time from heat, UV exposure, and ozone, even if the tire is never driven, and the results include hardening, cracking, reduced wet traction, and sidewall brittleness. For a winter tire, hardening is the central problem, because the compound's job is to stay flexible in the cold.
Storage slows nothing on the calendar. Michelin Canada applies its 10 year limit to tires that have never been driven and to tires stored in pristine conditions. A low-mileage set that spends most of the year in a garage can therefore be age-expired with deep tread showing, which is exactly the case a tread-only check misses. The tread replacement thresholds are covered in the site's separate tread depth guide; the rest of this article stays on the age clock alone.
Reading the date code: a short procedure
The manufacture date is not printed as a date. It is the last four digits of the DOT code, also called the Tire Identification Number, moulded into the sidewall. Continental and Michelin both describe it the same way: first two digits are the week of manufacture, last two are the year.
- Find the DOT code on the sidewall. Look for the letters DOT followed by a string of letters and numbers. Continental notes the complete code appears on one sidewall only.
- If the full code is not on the outer sidewall, check the inner sidewall. The date code may be on the inner or outer side, so check both before concluding it is missing.
- Read only the last four digits. In a code ending 2319, the date code is 2319. The characters before it identify the plant and the tire, not the date.
- Split the four digits as week, then year. 2319 means the 23rd week of 2019. Continental's other worked examples: 4022 is the 40th week of 2022, and 0124 is the first week of 2024. Bridgestone uses 3618 the same way: the 36th week of 2018.
- Count the age from that week and year, and repeat for all four tires plus the spare. Sets are usually matched, but a replacement tire fitted years later carries its own younger date, and the spare is the tire most often forgotten.
- Act on the result. A tire past five years of use goes on the professional inspection list per Bridgestone. A tire manufactured more than 10 years ago is replaced, whatever its tread. A three-digit code means a pre-2000 tire, which Continental says should not be in service at all.
What success looks like: every tire on the car, spare included, has a recorded four-digit date, the oldest date in the set is known, and the next step, keep using, inspect, or replace, follows from the schedule below rather than from how the tread looks.
The age schedule at a glance
| Age from the sidewall date | What the sourced guidance says | Practical step |
|---|---|---|
| Under 5 years | No age-based action stated in the sources above | Normal seasonal checks of tread, pressure, and damage |
| After 5 years of use | Bridgestone: have tires inspected by a qualified tire service person to determine whether they can continue in service; inspect the spare at the same time | Book the inspection at the next seasonal changeover |
| 6 years from manufacture | Continental: some vehicle manufacturers recommend replacement at this point, the recommendation varies, follow the vehicle manufacturer's instructions | Check the owner's manual for the vehicle-specific line |
| More than 10 years from manufacture | Ontario handbook, Michelin Canada, Bridgestone, and Continental agree: the tire should not remain in service | Replace the set, including any spare of the same age |
Worked against the current season, a winter tire dated 2420, the 24th week of 2020, is in its seventh year in the fall of 2026: past Bridgestone's inspection point, short of the outer limit. A tire dated 4216 is past 10 years and is done, even if it has covered very few kilometres.
Buying a set that is already old
The date code matters at purchase, not only at retirement. Continental warns that tires can sit in warehouse inventory for one to two years before sale, and advises checking the DOT code before installation. That advice bites hardest on discounted winter sets and used sets, where a low price can simply reflect an old date code: a tire made four years ago has six years left to the outer limit, however new it looks on the rack.
Check the date on the actual tires being fitted, all four of them, and ask for the code in writing when buying a used set that cannot be inspected in person. A seller who will not provide it has answered the question that matters.
When the inspection is a shop job
Reading a date code is owner-level work with a flashlight. Judging whether an ageing tire can continue is not. Ageing damage is not always visible from the outside, which is why Bridgestone's guidance routes the five-year check to a qualified tire service person rather than to a driveway look-over, and why visible damage of any kind earns a professional inspection. Sidewall cuts, bulges, and cracking on a tire of any age belong in the same category: a shop assessment, not a monitoring plan.
Storage habits still help the tire reach its schedule in good condition. Michelin advises storing off-season tires in a cool, dry place and cleaning road salt and debris off after winter. Bridgestone adds the specifics: indoors, away from electric generators and motors and from heat sources, on clean surfaces free of grease and gasoline. None of that resets the date code. It only keeps the tire's condition closer to what its tread suggests.
FAQ
Is there a legal age limit for tires in Ontario? The Ontario MTO Driver's Handbook states tires should not be older than 10 years, and describes aged tires as having reduced traction and a risk of unexpected failure. The handbook is guidance for drivers; the 10 year figure also matches the manufacturer limits above.
Does the 10 year clock start at purchase or manufacture? At manufacture. Michelin Canada counts 10 years from the manufacture date on the sidewall, and Bridgestone counts its limit from when the tire was manufactured, so time in a warehouse or in storage counts against the limit.
A winter set has deep tread but is eight years old. Is it fine? It is past Bridgestone's five-year inspection point and should be professionally inspected before another season. Deep tread does not answer the age question, because the handbook and Continental both describe deterioration that happens even without use.
What about the spare? It ages on the same clock. Bridgestone says to inspect the spare alongside the road tires and includes spares in the 10 year replacement guidance, and Continental says the 10 year replacement includes unused spares.
— Owen Park, Automotive Writer