E-scooter injuries are rising in Canada. Burlington only lets you ride them in one place.

If you bought an e-scooter and assumed you could ride it around Burlington the way people do in some other Canadian cities, the local rules will surprise you.

Halton Regional Police say e-scooters are currently permitted in Burlington only as part of the City’s Centennial Trail E-Scooter Pilot. Everywhere else in the city, they are not allowed.

What is happening nationally?

The Canadian Institute for Health Information has reported a national rise in e-scooter hospitalizations, including a 22 per cent increase in the figures CIHI has published. Ontario is among the provinces where those injuries have been concentrated.

CIHI also created a dedicated hospital code for e-scooters, U50.0, so those cases can be counted separately from other devices.

What Burlington actually allows

Ontario does not give every rider a blanket right to use an e-scooter on public roads. Under Ontario Regulation 389/19, a municipality has to opt in with a by-law before e-scooters can operate on highways, sidewalks, trails or other public ground it controls.

Burlington opted in, but only for a pilot. The City says the two-year program runs until 2027. Personal e-scooters and rentals booked through the SCOOTY app are allowed on Centennial Trail between Brant Street, the Elgin Promenade and Burloak Drive.

The City’s wording is blunt: no e-scooters, including personal ones, are allowed on any other pathway, trail, sidewalk or public road in Burlington.

Riders must be at least 16. Ontario requires a helmet for anyone under 18. The City tells every rider to wear one.

Where can you ride one?

The legal corridor is one shared trail, not a city-wide network.

West end: Brant Street and the Elgin Promenade, downtown.

East end: Burloak Drive.

In between: Centennial Trail only.

Rental scooters are geofenced. The City says they will stop outside the service zone and must start and finish in a designated parking zone. The meter keeps running until they do.

What happens if you leave the trail?

A SCOOTY rental is designed to stop working outside the service area. A personal e-scooter does not get a second set of rules once it leaves the trail. The City and Halton police both say it is not allowed on other Burlington roads, sidewalks, trails or paths.

Halton police add that e-scooters are prohibited in Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills unless they stay on private property.

Where they are allowed, provincial rules still apply: one rider, no passengers, no cargo, stay standing, yield to pedestrians and cyclists, and do not go faster than 24 km/h. Ontario says sidewalk riding is not permitted. The City tells rental riders to dismount and walk at street crossings.

Police say they have been consulted on the Burlington pilot and are prepared to enforce improper use. Ontario’s municipal guidance also notes Highway Traffic Act penalties for violating the pilot regulation.

Why the City’s pilot is narrow

Burlington is not treating e-scooters as ordinary street vehicles. City staff have framed the program as an Integrated Mobility Plan test: a limited way to see whether shared micromobility works on one busy trail.

A January 2026 staff update said the first season ran from July 21 to Nov. 13, 2025, with 50 scooters and mandatory parking zones. Staff also said residents wanted clearer rules, including whether private scooters were allowed and who would enforce them. The City responded with a by-law that keeps e-scooters off every street and pathway except that Centennial Trail segment.

The same update said there were no planned changes to expand the operating area or add more scooters before the pilot is finished. Staff are to come back in 2027 with results and options.

What riders should know before heading out

If you are 15 or younger, you cannot legally ride one.

If you are 16 or 17, you need a helmet that meets Ontario’s bicycle or motorcycle helmet rules.

If you are renting, download the SCOOTY app, start in a marked parking zone, stay on the trail and end in a parking zone. Unlocking costs $1.15 and riding is $0.35 a minute, before tax, according to the City.

If you own one, the same geography applies. The City’s FAQ says personal e-scooters are allowed only on parts of Centennial Trail. Leaving that trail for a nearby sidewalk or road is not a grey area. The City closed that on purpose.