Effective today (December 18), Canadian drivers will have to abide by new Impaired Driving laws.

The Criminal Code of Canada has updated Bill C-46, aiming to make Canada's impaired driving laws stronger than ever with the hopes of preventing more accidents due to impaired driving. There are a few key changes that drivers should know about.

  • Police Officers can now require any lawfully-stopped driver to provide a preliminary breath sample, even without reasonable suspicion that the driver has alcohol in their system. Drivers refusing to take the test may face a mandatory minimum $2,000 fine.

Updates to Penalties for Impaired Driving:

  • First offence with blood alcohol content (BAC) of 80-119 mg: mandatory minimum $1,000 fine
  • First offence with BAC of 120-159 mg: mandatory minimum $1,500 fine
  • First offence with BAC of 160 mg or more: mandatory minimum $2,000 fine
  • Second offence: mandatory minimum 30 days imprisonment
  • Third and subsequent offences: mandatory minimum 120 days imprisonment

Updates to penalties for drug-impaired driving not causing bodily harm or death:

  • 2 ng (nanograms) but less than 5 ng of THC per ml (millilitre) of blood: maximum $1,000 fine
  • 5 ng or more of THC per ml of blood, any detectable level of LSD, psilocybin, psilocin, ketamine, PCP, cocaine, methamphetamine, 6-mam, or 5mg/L of GHB:

                 First offence: mandatory minimum $1,000 fine

                 Second offence: mandatory minimum 30 days of imprisonment

                 Third and subsequent offence: mandatory minimum 120 days of imprisonment

 

You can find further details on the penalties on the Department of Justice's website.

 

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