What Are Major Traffic Convictions in Alberta?

A major traffic conviction in Alberta is a serious driving offence that carries at least six demerit points, a fine typically in the hundreds or low thousands of dollars, and an insurance surcharge that follows you for three years. The category covers two very different streams: provincial offences under the Traffic Safety Act, which do not create a criminal record, and federal Criminal Code offences such as impaired or dangerous driving, which do. Both streams can be triggered by a single incident, and the penalties stack.

Provincial Offences That Count as Major

Alberta’s Traffic Safety Act creates the provincial offences most drivers think of first. These are handled through tickets and provincial court, not criminal proceedings, but the demerits and insurance consequences are heavy. The common ones:

Careless driving. Driving without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for others. The wording is broad and covers everything from aggressive lane changes to blowing a red light while distracted.
Failing to stop for a school bus. Passing a school bus with its red lights flashing and stop arm out. On an undivided highway, you must stop regardless of direction.
Excessive speeding. More than 50 km/h over the posted limit. At 51 km/h and above there is no set fine; you must appear in court and the judge sets the amount.¹
Distracted driving. Using, holding, or viewing a handheld electronic device while driving.
Failing to remain at the scene of an accident. Section 69 of the Act requires you to stop, identify yourself, and offer assistance if someone is injured.
Racing or stunting on a highway. Street racing and stunting sit in the same fine tier as careless driving.

When a Driving Offence Becomes Criminal

Some conduct crosses out of the ticket system entirely. A conviction under the Criminal Code gives you a criminal record, which affects employment, bonding, and border crossings for years after your licence is back.

Impaired Driving

Section 320.14 of the Criminal Code makes it an offence to operate a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs, or with a blood alcohol concentration of 80 mg or more per 100 mL of blood within two hours of driving.² Refusing to provide a breath or blood sample is a separate offence under section 320.15 with a steeper minimum fine of $2,000 for a first offence, compared with $1,000 for a first impaired charge at the standard BAC threshold.³

Minimum fines scale with your BAC. Between 120 and 159 mg per 100 mL, the minimum is $1,500. At 160 mg or above, it is $2,000. A second offence of any kind brings a mandatory 30 days in jail, and each subsequent offence at least 120 days.³ On top of the fine, the court must impose a driving prohibition of between one and three years for a first offence, plus any custody time served.⁴

Dangerous Driving

Section 320.13 targets operating a vehicle in a way that is dangerous to the public, considering all circumstances.⁵ The Crown must prove a marked departure from how a reasonable driver would behave, which is more than ordinary carelessness. If dangerous driving causes bodily harm or death, the maximum penalties rise sharply, up to life imprisonment where someone dies.⁶

Failing to Stop After an Accident

Section 320.16 of the Criminal Code applies when a driver knows, or is reckless about whether, their vehicle was involved in an accident and fails to stop, identify themselves, or offer assistance.⁷ This is a distinct charge from the provincial version under the Traffic Safety Act, reserved for more serious situations, with penalties that escalate if the accident caused bodily harm or death.

Travel and Record Consequences

A criminal conviction follows you well past your licence file. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has stated that a single DUI conviction is not automatic grounds to refuse entry to the United States, but multiple impaired convictions or a DUI combined with other offences can make you inadmissible and require a waiver before crossing.⁸

What You’ll Pay in Fines

Alberta raised fines for several major provincial offences effective March 13, 2026. Careless driving, racing, and stunting are now $852, up from $567. Distracted driving is $390, up from $300. Every provincial traffic fine already includes a built-in 20% Victims of Crime surcharge, so the ticket amount is the full amount.¹

Speeding fines scale with how far over the limit you were. At exactly 50 km/h over, the fine is $774. At 51 km/h or more over, the fine is set by a judge after a mandatory court appearance.¹

Criminal Code fines are separate from, and on top of, provincial penalties. Alberta’s Immediate Roadside Sanctions program also imposes a $1,000 administrative fine plus the 20% surcharge for an IRS Fail result, regardless of what happens in criminal court.⁹

Demerit Points and the Suspension Threshold

Fully licensed Alberta drivers face an automatic one-month suspension at 15 or more demerit points within a two-year window. A warning letter arrives in the mail at 8 points.¹⁰

Most major provincial convictions carry 6 demerit points. Careless driving and failing to stop for a school bus both sit at that level, so a single conviction consumes 40% of your allowance.¹¹ Failing to remain at the scene of a collision carries 7 points, nearly half the threshold on its own. Two major convictions inside a two-year window will almost always trigger a suspension.

Points attach on the conviction date, not the offence date, and sit on your record for two years from conviction.¹⁰ A drawn-out court process shifts when the points land, but it doesn’t erase them.

Immediate Roadside Sanctions

Alberta runs its own administrative program alongside the criminal process for impaired driving. Immediate Roadside Sanctions let police impose penalties at the roadside, before any trial. The top tier, an IRS Fail, applies when your BAC is 0.08 or higher, you fail or refuse drug and alcohol testing, or you fail a drug recognition evaluation.

A first IRS Fail triggers all of the following at once:⁹

An immediate 90-day licence suspension where you cannot drive at all, followed by a further 12-month suspension.
A 30-day vehicle seizure.¹²
A $1,000 fine plus the 20% victim surcharge.
Mandatory completion of the Planning Ahead course before reinstatement.
The option to drive during the 12-month suspension through Alberta’s Ignition Interlock Program. Decline it and the full suspension runs out.

Lower tiers still bite. An IRS Warn on a first occurrence means a 3-day vehicle seizure, rising to 7 days for a second or later occurrence. A 24-hour IRS result produces a 24-hour seizure.¹² These sanctions apply even if you are never criminally charged, and contesting the matter does not pause them.

What a Major Conviction Does to Your Insurance

Alberta’s regulated grid rating system applies a multiplier, called a differential, to the conviction portion of your premium:

0 major convictions: 1.00
1 major conviction: 1.25
2 major convictions: 1.50
3 major convictions: 2.00
4 major convictions: 3.00
5 major convictions: 5.00
6 major convictions: 9.00
7 or more: each additional conviction doubles the previous differential

A single major conviction raises the conviction component of your premium by 25%. Two bring it to 50%. By four, it has tripled.¹³ Criminal Code convictions run on their own scale, and those differentials stack on top.

Insurers look at major convictions from the previous three years at each renewal. Under Alberta’s auto insurance reform, a “good driver” is defined as someone with no major conviction in the preceding three years, which is the qualifying standard for the province’s rate cap protections.¹⁴ That clock starts on the conviction date.

Extra Consequences for GDL Drivers

Major convictions are harsher if you are still in Alberta’s Graduated Driver Licensing program. The demerit threshold is 8 points instead of 15, and a warning letter arrives at 4.¹⁰ A single 6-point careless driving conviction puts a GDL driver one small ticket away from suspension.

GDL drivers must also keep a zero blood alcohol and drug level while driving. Any violation triggers IRS Zero penalties, including a 7-day vehicle seizure.¹²

A suspension also resets the GDL clock. If you are suspended as a learner (Class 7), the one-year holding period before you can upgrade is extended by the suspension length. If a suspension falls during your probationary Class 5 GDL year, you must then stay suspension-free for a full year before graduating to a full licence.¹⁵ One poorly timed major conviction can add a year to the path toward a full licence.

How Long a Major Conviction Follows You

The timelines run on separate tracks. Demerit points sit on your driving record for two years from the conviction date.¹⁰ Insurers use a three-year lookback, so the conviction keeps affecting your premium for roughly a year after the points drop off.¹⁴

Criminal Code convictions do not expire from your criminal record unless you obtain a record suspension. The court-ordered driving prohibition runs on its own schedule, and any IRS Fail penalties run alongside, but independently of, the criminal process. Getting your licence back after any suspension also requires paying a reinstatement fee at a registry before you can legally drive.

1
Government of Alberta. Fines for Speeding
2
Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Section 320.14
3
Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Section 320.19
4
Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Section 320.24
5
Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Section 320.13
6
Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Section 320.21
7
Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Section 320.16
8
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Entering Canada and the United States With DUI Offenses
9
Government of Alberta. Impaired Driving Penalties
10
Alberta.ca. Demerit Driving Suspension
11
Alberta.ca. Demerit Points
12
Government of Alberta. Vehicle Seizure Programs
13
Alberta Automobile Insurance Rate Board. GRID Guidance
14
Government of Alberta. Automobile Insurance Reform
15
Open Government – Alberta. Alberta Driver’s Guide