Impaired Driving (Manitoba)

*Generally, the Criminal Code is the basis for impaired driving charges, but there may be supplementary sanctions under provincial law.

Each province and territory in Canada is responsible for its roadways. In Manitoba, the HTA governs the rights and responsibilities of drivers and includes laws to deal with impaired driving. Impaired drivers can also be charged under Canada’s Criminal Code.

According to Section 320.14 (1) of the Code, it is considered a crime to operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of .08 percent or higher. The legal limit is defined as having a BAC level equal to or exceeding 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood. Driving with a BAC level above this limit can result in a criminal conviction.

Alcohol is not the only substance that can impair your ability to drive. Prescription medication and over-the-counter drugs can impact your driving ability, especially if combined with even a small amount of alcohol. The federal government also updated the Criminal Code to deal with the legalization of cannabis in 2018. The Code makes it an offence to have between two and five nanograms of THC (the primary psychoactive component of cannabis) per ml of blood when operating a vehicle.

Having five ng or more THC per ml of blood is a more serious offenceAn indictable offence with a maximum punishment of five years or more.. The combined prohibited levels of alcohol and cannabis are 50 mg or more of alcohol per 100 ml of blood and 2.5 ng or more of THC per ml of blood.

Manitoba’s impaired driving laws apply when operating all motor vehicles, including infrastructure and agricultural equipment, off-road vehicles, boats, aircraft and railway equipment. Under the province’s Graduated Licensing Program, novice drivers in the first five years of driving cannot have any trace of alcohol in their blood. 

It is important to remember that police no longer need proof, such as the smell of alcohol, to demand a breath test. In December 2018, the federal government introduced mandatory alcohol screening (MAS), allowing police to demand that drivers submit to a breathalyzer during a roadside stop.

Refusing to provide a breath sample will also result in charges, and include a two-year licence suspension for a first conviction, seven years for a second conviction, a 10-year suspension for a third conviction and a lifetime suspension for four or more convictions within 10 years.

As well, your vehicle will be impounded for at least 60 days if you fail to provide a breath, oral fluid, or blood sample or refuse to participate in a physical coordination test or drug recognition evaluation test. 

Impaired driving has two separate layers of consequences in Manitoba. The first is the criminal charge under the Criminal Code of Canada — the same offence, penalties and mandatory minimums everywhere in Canada. The second is Manitoba’s own administrative layer — licence suspensions, vehicle impoundment and program requirements that are not a criminal conviction and can apply even before, or without, a criminal charge.

For the criminal charge and the penalties that apply everywhere in Canada, see Impaired Driving.

Roadside testing and immediate suspensions

Manitoba’s roadside and licensing consequences come from the province’s Highway Traffic Act, not the Criminal Code. A licence suspension, a vehicle tow, an interlock condition, or a provincial administrative penalty is not a criminal conviction, and none of them require one — they can apply immediately, based on a roadside test result, before any court case even starts.

If a roadside screening device returns a “WARN” result (a blood alcohol concentration of .05 to .079) or a driver refuses to be tested or fails a coordination or drug test, the driver’s licence is suspended immediately under a Tiered Administrative Licence Suspension: 72 hours for a first suspension in the last 10 years (7 days if a passenger under 16 was in the vehicle), 15 days for a second, 30 days for a third, and 60 days for a fourth or more.

A “FAIL” result — a reading of .08 or higher — a confirmed blood-drug concentration over the legal limit, or a refusal to provide a sample triggers a separate, automatic 3-month Administrative Licence Suspension. This roadside .08 reading is an administrative threshold, not the same thing as being criminally charged or convicted of the Criminal Code’s own .08 offence, which follows its own separate court process.

Separately, if an officer believes a driver is too impaired by a drug to safely drive, or to even complete a test, the officer can suspend that driver’s licence for 24 hours on the spot.

Zero tolerance for learner and novice drivers

Drivers on a learner’s licence or in Manitoba’s Graduated Driver Licensing (novice) program must have zero alcohol or drugs in their system at all times, for a minimum of their first five years of driving. Any amount detected triggers an immediate suspension — a separate, stricter rule than the .05/.08 thresholds that apply to fully licensed adult drivers.

Vehicle impoundment

Manitoba can also tow and impound the vehicle. On a first seizure, impoundment runs 3 days for a “WARN” result or a BAC of .05 to .079; 30 days for a “FAIL” result, a BAC of .08 up to 160 mg per 100 mL, or a blood-drug concentration over the legal limit; and 60 days for a refusal, or a BAC over 160 mg per 100 mL.

Ignition interlock program

A “FAIL” result or a refusal to test also means mandatory participation in Manitoba’s Ignition Interlock Program for one year — a breath-testing device installed in the vehicle that the driver must pass before the vehicle will start.

Reinstatement, assessment and other requirements

Drivers who accumulate two or more tiered suspensions, or one or more 3-month suspensions, within 10 years must also complete a paid Impaired Driver Assessment through the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba before their licence can be reinstated. The province can also impose an administrative penalty on a suspended driver, in an amount set by regulation. Reinstatement fees, towing and storage costs, interlock costs, or program fees may also apply.

Suspensions after a criminal conviction

If a driver is later convicted of a Criminal Code impaired-driving offence, the Highway Traffic Act adds its own licence suspension on top of whatever the criminal court itself orders. This provincial suspension is a separate administrative consequence — distinct from the criminal conviction itself, and distinct from any driving prohibition the court imposes under Criminal Code s. 320.24. For an ordinary impaired-driving conviction, it runs 1 year for a first conviction, 5 years for a second, 10 years for a third, and a lifetime suspension for a fourth or more, within a rolling 10-year period. A conviction for refusing to provide a sample carries its own suspension: 2 years for a first, 7 years for a second.

Where the impaired driving caused bodily harm or death, a first conviction carries a 5-year licence suspension and a 7-year zero-alcohol driving condition. A second such conviction within 10 years raises both of these to a lifetime suspension and a lifetime zero-alcohol condition.

Longer suspensions can apply after repeat convictions or where the impaired-driving incident caused bodily harm or death.

How the two layers work together

All of Manitoba’s administrative suspensions, impoundments, penalties and program requirements can apply even if a driver is never criminally charged, or is later acquitted. Where a Criminal Code conviction does follow, Manitoba’s suspensions and program requirements apply alongside, not instead of, the criminal court process — and remain distinct from the court’s own sentence and from any s. 320.24 driving prohibition.