What Happens If You Get a DUI in Canada: Charges, Fines, and Penalties

If you get a DUI in Canada, you face three layers of consequences at once: an immediate roadside licence suspension and vehicle impound handled by the province, a federal criminal charge carrying a mandatory minimum $1,000 fine and a driving prohibition of at least one year on a first conviction, and a permanent criminal record that follows you into insurance renewals, job applications, and border crossings. Since 2018, impaired driving has carried a maximum penalty of ten years in prison, which places it in the category of serious criminal offences under Canadian law.

What Happens at the Roadside

Canadian police can demand a breath sample from any driver they lawfully stop. They don’t need to suspect you’ve been drinking. This mandatory alcohol screening power has applied across Canada since December 2018.¹

If the roadside screening device registers a fail — a blood alcohol concentration at or above 80 mg of alcohol per 100 mL of blood — the officer will arrest you and take you to a station for an evidentiary breath test, or demand a blood sample. That second reading is what the Crown uses in court. Refusing to provide a sample is itself a criminal offence, and the mandatory minimum fine for refusal is higher than for a standard first-offence DUI.²

Separately from the criminal process, each province hits you with immediate administrative penalties at the roadside. A 90-day licence suspension is standard in several provinces. Your vehicle is impounded on the spot — seven days on a first offence in Ontario, 30 days in Alberta.³⁴

You can also face provincial penalties below the 0.08 criminal threshold. Most provinces impose a short roadside suspension, a monetary penalty, and possible vehicle impoundment for readings in the warn range, typically 0.05 to 0.08 BAC. These are administrative, not criminal, but you still lose your licence that day.⁵

What You Can Be Charged With

Impaired driving charges fall under Part VIII.1 of the Criminal Code and apply uniformly across Canada. The three main offences:

Impaired operation: driving while your ability is impaired to any degree by alcohol, a drug, or a combination.
Over 80 mg BAC: having a blood alcohol concentration at or above 80 mg per 100 mL of blood within two hours of driving.
Refusal: failing to comply with a lawful demand for a breath, blood, or oral fluid sample.

You can be convicted of impaired operation even if your BAC is below 0.08, provided the Crown can show your ability to drive was affected. A single incident can produce charges under more than one of these offences.⁶

The same framework covers drug-impaired driving, with specific per-millilitre blood concentration limits for THC and a combined alcohol-plus-THC offence.⁷

Fines, Jail, and Driving Bans on Conviction

Mandatory minimum penalties are set federally and escalate sharply with repeat offences.

First Offence

The minimum fine depends on your BAC:

BAC of 80 to 119 mg: $1,000 minimum fine.
BAC of 120 to 159 mg: $1,500 minimum fine.
BAC of 160 mg or more: $2,000 minimum fine.
Refusing to provide a sample: $2,000 minimum fine.

Refusing a test does not help your case. The minimum fine for refusal is double the baseline first-offence fine, and the conviction carries the same criminal record and driving prohibition as a completed test would.²

A first conviction also carries a mandatory driving prohibition of at least one year and up to three years, running on top of any jail term.⁸

Second Offence

A second conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 30 days in jail, a driving prohibition of two to ten years, and a maximum sentence on indictment of ten years.²⁸

Third or Subsequent Offence

A minimum of 120 days in jail, a driving prohibition of at least three years with no upper limit, and the same ten-year maximum sentence.²⁸

If Someone Was Hurt or Killed

The penalties above apply where no one is physically harmed. Impaired driving causing bodily harm is a separate, more serious offence. Impaired driving causing death carries a maximum of life imprisonment, and when that maximum applies the court can impose a driving ban of any length it considers appropriate, including for life.⁶⁸

What It Actually Costs

The mandatory fine is the smallest part of the bill. For a typical first offence:

Criminal fine of $1,000 to $2,000, plus a provincial victim fine surcharge — 20% in Alberta, for example.⁴
Legal fees. Defence lawyers usually charge a flat block fee, with the total depending on complexity and whether the matter goes to trial.
Roughly $1,000 to $2,000 combined for mandatory education, interlock rental, and licence reinstatement.
Insurance. Auto premiums after a DUI conviction can rise by up to 300%, and high-risk rates can persist for six years or more.

Add towing, impound storage, and lost income from court appearances or a jail sentence, and total out-of-pocket costs on a first offence commonly reach $10,000 to $20,000 or more. Repeat offences cost significantly more, especially once a jail term causes job loss.

Getting Your Licence Back

After the criminal prohibition ends, provincial requirements still stand between you and a reinstated licence:

Remedial education. Ontario’s Back on Track program costs $894 for convicted drivers; other provinces run comparable courses.
Ignition interlock. Most provinces require the device to be installed in your vehicle after the criminal ban ends. In Alberta, a first offender uses one for 12 months, a second offender for 36 months, and a third offender for life. Device rental runs roughly $100 per month plus a program application fee.⁹
Reinstatement fees, generally $150 to $300.

Skipping the interlock is not an option in practice. In Alberta, your licence stays suspended for the full interlock period if you don’t participate; in British Columbia, you become ineligible for a licence altogether.¹⁰

The Criminal Record

A DUI conviction creates a permanent criminal record. It shows up on standard background checks with the offence, conviction date, and sentence, and it does not quietly expire.

Employers in safety-sensitive industries — transportation, healthcare, law enforcement, finance, government — frequently screen for criminal records, and a DUI can disqualify you. Regulated professions, including nursing, medicine, law, and accounting, require members to disclose criminal convictions, and the regulatory response can range from a formal warning to licence suspension or revocation.

The only way to clear a DUI from your record is a record suspension from the Parole Board of Canada. For offences on or after March 13, 2012, the waiting period is five years after you finish your entire sentence if the offence was prosecuted summarily, or ten years if it was prosecuted by indictment. The clock starts only once every part of the sentence is complete, including probation and fine payment.¹¹

If You’re Not a Canadian Citizen

Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, any offence punishable by a maximum of ten years or more qualifies as “serious criminality.” Impaired driving now carries that ten-year maximum, so a single DUI conviction — whether it happened in Canada or abroad — can make a foreign national or permanent resident criminally inadmissible.¹²

In practice, a DUI on your record from any country can mean denial of entry at the Canadian border. For permanent residents already in Canada, a conviction can trigger removal proceedings.

Two routes exist for non-citizens who need to come to Canada despite a DUI:

Temporary Resident Permit: allows short-term entry for a specific purpose. It doesn’t erase the inadmissibility; it grants a one-time exception.
Criminal Rehabilitation: a permanent fix available once at least five years have passed since completing the entire sentence, including probation. If granted, the inadmissibility is removed permanently.¹³

The date of the offence matters. Before December 18, 2018, impaired driving carried a five-year maximum, which meant a single old DUI could lead to automatic “deemed rehabilitation” ten years after the sentence was completed. The 2018 amendments doubled the maximum to ten years, and offences at that threshold no longer qualify for deemed rehabilitation. If your offence was before that date, the old rules can still apply; if it was on or after, you must apply for Criminal Rehabilitation or a TRP.

Travel and Professional Life After a Conviction

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has access to Canadian criminal records and can question or deny entry to travellers with DUI convictions, particularly recent or repeat ones. NEXUS membership is also at risk: cardholders can expect to lose it, and applicants with an unresolved criminal record will generally be denied. A Canadian with a single DUI typically needs a granted record suspension before reapplying for NEXUS.

On the professional side, regulated fields in Canada — healthcare, law, accounting, education, aviation, skilled trades — require members to maintain good standing with their regulator. Most regulators require you to report any criminal conviction, and failure to disclose can bring additional discipline on top of whatever the conviction itself triggers. Outcomes range from a formal reprimand to suspension or revocation of your professional licence. Even where the licence survives, a DUI can limit roles that require a security clearance or bonding.

1
Department of Justice Canada. Criminal Code RSC 1985 c C-46 – Section 320.27
2
Department of Justice Canada. Criminal Code RSC 1985 c C-46 – Section 320.19
3
Government of Ontario. Vehicle Impoundment From a Suspended Drivers Licence
4
Alberta.ca. Impaired Driving Penalties
5
Government of British Columbia. Alcohol and Drug Related Driving Prohibitions and Suspensions
6
Department of Justice Canada. Criminal Code RSC 1985 c C-46 – Section 320.14
7
Government of British Columbia. Cannabis and Driving
8
Department of Justice Canada. Criminal Code RSC 1985 c C-46 – Section 320.24
9
Alberta.ca. IRS FAIL Ignition Interlock Program
10
Government of British Columbia. Ignition Interlock Program
11
Government of Canada. Determining Your Eligibility for Record Suspension or Pardon
12
Department of Justice Canada. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act – Section 36
13
Government of Canada. Convicted of Driving While Impaired