Suspensions & Impaired Driving Laws

Few places enforce driving laws as firmly as Ontario when it comes to impaired driving, careless driving, "stunt" driving, fleeing from police, and offences of that kind. On top of long suspensions, a court can impose:

• Fines reaching tens of thousands of dollars
• Reinstatement fees
• Licence restrictions
• Lifetime bans
• Jail time

Among the reasons a licence can be suspended:

• Escalating sanctions (for novice drivers)
• Zero-BAC violations (novice and young drivers)
• A medical suspension
• Discretionary HTA suspensions
• Mandatory HTA suspensions
• An administrative driver's licence suspension (ADLS)
• A "warn-range" suspension
• Novice-driver violations

Within any five-year period, escalating sanctions kick in for a novice driver who has:

• Repeatedly broken novice restrictions
• Picked up any HTA conviction worth 4 or more demerit points
• Been handed a court-ordered licence suspension

When a vehicle crashes at 50 km/h or more over the posted limit, the chance of someone being killed or seriously hurt is roughly five times higher. Drop the posted limit to 60 km/h or below and that chance climbs to about eight times higher.

Dangerous behaviours include:

• Exceeding the limit by 40 km/h or more where the limit is under 80 km/h
• Exceeding the limit by 50 km/h or more anywhere
• Manoeuvring your vehicle so another car cannot get past
• Deliberately cutting another vehicle off
• Street racing
• Performing driving stunts
• Running a connected nitrous-oxide system while on a highway

The law describes careless driving as operating a vehicle without due care and attention, or without reasonable regard for others on the highway. Drivers who endanger themselves and everyone around them through aggressive or careless conduct can be hit with tough sanctions once convicted.

Every driver aged 21 or under, no matter which licence class they hold, has to keep their BAC at zero behind the wheel.

• On the spot you face a 24-hour roadside driver-licence suspension
• A conviction can add a fine plus a licence suspension of at least 30 days

📌 Handbook vs. current law (good to know): Ontario's official MTO Driver's Handbook -- and the G1 knowledge test that follows it -- still lists the 24-hour roadside suspension shown above, so pick that answer on your exam from whatever options appear. The actual law has moved on, though: a zero-tolerance breach now triggers an escalating immediate roadside suspension -- 7 days for a first, 14 days for a second, 30 days for a third inside a five-year window, along with a $250-$450 administrative penalty. Go with the handbook figure on the test, but be aware the real-world consequence is harsher.

Every doctor is required to pass along the name and address of any patient 16 or older whose condition could compromise safe driving -- think stroke, a heart problem, or dizziness, among others. That report goes only to the Ministry of Transportation and is shared with no one else.

Your licence can stay suspended until fresh medical evidence confirms the condition no longer poses a safety risk.

These situations trigger a suspension automatically:

• Not stopping for a police officer (a minimum of five years)
• Failing to pay a traffic fine after a court has ordered it

You lose your licence right away for 90 days when:

• Your BAC reads above 80 mg in 100 mL of blood (.08)
• You decline or refuse to supply a breath, blood, oral fluid, or urine sample that police request
• You decline or refuse to do physical co-ordination tests or take a drug evaluation that police require

The suspension kicks in at the roadside or the police station, and it stands apart from any criminal charges you might also face.

A blood-alcohol reading in the "warn range" of .05 to .08 marks a driver as an immediate hazard. Get caught and the penalties stack up:

• First time: an on-the-spot 3-day licence suspension
• Second time: an on-the-spot 7-day suspension plus a required remedial alcohol-education program
• Every time after that: penalties and sanctions that grow considerably

Break any graduated-licensing condition and your licence is suspended for 30 days, counting from the moment you turn it in. Refuse to hand it over and you could be without a licence for as long as two years.

• You don't pass a driver's re-examination
• After a suspension, you leave a reinstatement fee or administrative monetary penalty unpaid
• Your bank bounces the cheque you used for licence fees
• You give up your licence voluntarily, or another jurisdiction surrenders or returns it

A first conviction for a Criminal Code offence costs you a one-year licence suspension. From there the penalties climb sharply, all the way to a lifetime driving ban. The conviction itself sits on your record for at least 10 years.

Criminal Code offences that bring a suspension:

• Being in care and control of a vehicle (boats included), or driving it, with a BAC above .08
• Turning down a breath test for alcohol
• Declining or refusing to give a breath sample for roadside screening
• Leaving the scene of a collision
• Dangerous driving
• Causing death or bodily harm through criminal negligence
• Not stopping for police

Getting behind the wheel while alcohol or a drug has impaired you is a crime across Canada. The car doesn't even need to be in motion -- you can be charged simply for being impaired in the driver's seat, before you've moved an inch.

Where impairment is suspected, police may direct a driver to:

• Give breath samples
• Carry out standardized field sobriety tests
• Undergo a drug recognition evaluation
• Hand over screening samples -- oral fluid, urine, or blood

Decline or refuse any one of these demands and you'll be charged under the Criminal Code.

For anyone 21 or younger, the blood-alcohol level has to be zero.

Police are free to pull over any driver to judge whether alcohol or drug testing is warranted, and they may run roadside spot checks too.

Once you're stopped, you might be asked to:

• Breathe into a roadside screening device
• Complete physical co-ordination tests

When a breath sample isn't possible, the officer can demand a blood sample in its place. Police may also call for blood, oral fluid, or urine samples.

Refuse or fail to comply with any of these demands and a Criminal Code charge follows.

Both Criminal Code and HTA penalties reach drivers impaired by alcohol or a drug. Police may require:

• Physical co-ordination tests
• A drug evaluation
• Blood, oral fluid, or urine samples

Things to keep in mind about drugs and driving:

• On prescription medicine or allergy shots? Check with your doctor about side effects -- dizziness, blurred vision, nausea, drowsiness -- that might affect how you drive
• Go through the label on any over-the-counter product before you take it
• Mixing drugs with even a little alcohol can be dangerous, sometimes days after the drug was taken
• Don't gamble on it -- consult your doctor or pharmacist

When it comes to drinking and driving, Ontario backs up some of the harshest laws anywhere in North America with measures such as:

• Suspending your licence
• Steep fines
• Impounding the vehicle
• Required alcohol-education and treatment programs
• The ignition interlock program
• Fines reaching $50,000
• Jail time
• Permanently losing your licence

When impaired driving causes injury or death:

• Causing bodily harm: a prison term of up to 14 years
• Causing death: a sentence of imprisonment for life

Other fallout:

• Your insurer may refuse to cover your medical, rehabilitation, or vehicle-damage costs
• Your premiums can jump sharply
• Hefty legal bills
• Losing your job if driving is part of it

Under Ontario law, a seven-day vehicle impoundment applies to:

• Anyone driving while serving an HTA licence suspension
• Anyone caught lacking a required ignition interlock
• Any driver found over .08 BAC, or who declines or refuses a Criminal Code demand from police

Drive while suspended for a Criminal Code offence and the vehicle is held for at least 45 days.

None of this depends on who actually owns the vehicle -- a borrowed, rented, or employer-supplied car counts just the same. Before the vehicle goes back, the owner has to cover the towing and storage charges.

Owners carry the duty of making sure nobody suspended drives their vehicle. A licence can be checked by phone or online, and a driver's abstract is available at any ServiceOntario centre.

Back on Track program: This is mandatory for every driver convicted of an impaired, driving-related Criminal Code offence. Anyone with more than one "Warn Range" conviction has to complete a program of alcohol education, alcohol treatment, or both.

When a Criminal Code conviction is behind your suspension, the licence stays suspended until you've met the remedial requirements.

Driver-improvement interview: This one is for drivers convicted of Criminal Code offences that don't involve drinking and who carry no prior alcohol-related convictions. Miss the interview before your suspension runs out and the licence is suspended further until you finish it.

The same requirement reaches any Ontario resident whose driving-related Criminal Code conviction happened elsewhere in Canada, or who committed an equivalent offence in Michigan and New York, plus out-of-province drivers convicted here in Ontario.

While your licence is suspended, you must stay off the road entirely -- no exceptions.

A conviction for driving while suspended over an HTA offence brings:

• Fines running into the thousands of dollars
• A possible court order of up to six months in jail
• Another six months tacked on to the suspension you're already serving

A conviction for driving while suspended over a Criminal Code offence brings:

• Fines in the tens of thousands of dollars
• Jail time