Impaired Driving

A conviction under the Criminal Code’s Impaired Driving provisions will have an immediate and mandatory impact on you.

• Your driver’s licence will be immediately suspended for 90 days.
• If found guilty you will lose your driving privileges for at least one year and fined a minimum of $1000.
• If you have a previous conviction for a related offence you will be subject to a mandatory prison sentence, and your period of licence revocation will be greatly increased;
• You will only be permitted to drive with an interlock device installed, and you will be subject to the requirements of the Back on Track Program administered by the MTO.
• Your insurance premiums are likely to skyrocket- by as much as six-fold for the next 5-7 years.

The Impaired Driving provisions of the the Criminal Code are unique. Police officers have much wider powers of detention, arrest, and search and seizure compared with other areas of the law. Without having to obtain a warrant the police can demand that you provide breath samples into instruments designed to detect the level of alcohol in your bloodstream.

There are also new provisions of the Criminal Code which specifically address cannabis impairment.  Police are now able to demand a saliva sample to screen for illegal concentrations of THC in your blood.  They can demand that you perform physical sobriety tests, and also demand that you provide blood or urine samples for analysis.  Cannabis impairment will be treated as a criminal offence in the same way that alcohol impaired driving has been.

If you are found guilty of impaired by cannabis you will lose your driving privileges for at least one year, with no exceptions.

Due to the unique features of this area of the criminal law it is important to hire a lawyer who has special knowledge and experience in this area. Only a lawyer with the extensive background defending drinking/drive offences will to be able to spot the relevant issues and chart the correct course to a successful defence at trial.

At Stilman Law we have been defending persons charged with drinking and driving for over 2 decades, and have achieved the acquittal of hundreds of persons accused of these offences.