Impaired Driving (Ontario)

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

Like other provinces and territories, Ontario has its own legislation dealing with impaired driving. The HTA includes punishments that are in addition to penalties in the Criminal Code. If police determine your ability to drive is impaired you face an immediate licence suspension, fines, vehicle impoundment, enrollment in treatment or educational programs and additional fees to reinstate your licence.

Alcohol is not the only substance that can impair your ability to drive. Over-the-counter drugs or prescription medicine can affect your motor skills, especially when combined with alcohol. You can also be charged while driving under the influence of illicit drugs and cannabis. THC is the primary psychoactive component of cannabis. Although cannabis is now legal in Canada, it is an offence to have between two and five nanograms of THC per ml of blood when operating a vehicle. Having five ng or more THC per ml of blood is an even 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.

In December 2018, the federal government introduced mandatory alcohol screening (MAS), which allows police to demand a breath test from a driver without reasonable suspicion that the driver has alcohol in their body. Prior to that, if you were pulled over, police could only demand a test if there was proof you had been drinking, such as slurred speech, or they detected the smell of alcohol.

Refusing to provide a breath sample will not prevent police from charging you. In Ontario, you face the same penalties for refusal as someone who registers a BAC of 0.08 or more.

Under the Criminal Code, it is a separate criminal offence to have a blood alcohol concentration equal to or above 80 mg of alcohol in 100 mL of blood within two hours after driving. Ontario also uses 0.08 or more for its provincial fail-range consequences. If your BAC is between 0.05 and 0.079, Ontario treats that as the warn range. These provincial administrative penalties are separate from any criminal charge.

As of January 1, 2026, the penalties for a warn-range BAC reading are:

First occurrence: an immediate 7-day licence suspension, a mandatory 8-hour education course, and a $250 penalty. Second occurrence: an immediate 14-day licence suspension, a mandatory 16-hour treatment program, and a $350 penalty. Third occurrence: an immediate 30-day licence suspension, a mandatory 16-hour treatment program, a $450 penalty, and a 6-month ignition interlock condition on your vehicle. An interlock prevents your vehicle from starting if it detects alcohol in your system. Drivers are responsible for the installation and maintenance of the device.

You must also pay the Driver's Licence Reinstatement fee of $281 each time you apply to reinstate a suspended licence.

Ontario has continued to strengthen its impaired driving penalties, with the most recent changes taking effect January 1, 2026. These administrative rules apply to drivers found with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05 or higher, those who fail a roadside sobriety test, and those who violate zero-tolerance rules for young, novice, and commercial drivers.

Drivers who register a BAC of 0.08 or more, refuse to comply with a demand for a drug or alcohol test, or are found impaired by a drug recognition evaluator face a $550 penalty alongside the 90-day licence suspension described above.

It is important to note that these rules also apply to those operating boats, snowmobiles, or off-road vehicles.

If you register a BAC of 0.08 or more, fail to comply with a demand for alcohol or drug testing or perform poorly during a drug recognition expert evaluation, you face an immediate 90-day roadside suspension for a first offence. You will have to pay a $550 penalty, and your vehicle will be impounded for seven days.

The same penalties apply for a second offence, and you will be expected to attend an education and treatment program. On a third offence, you would face those same penalties, and an ignition interlock would be placed on your vehicle for six months.

Impaired driving has two separate layers of consequences in Ontario. 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 Ontario’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 licence suspensions: warn range and 0.08 or more

Ontario’s administrative suspensions apply right at the roadside, based on a breath, blood, or fluid test — or a refusal to give one. They do not require a trial or a criminal conviction, and an administrative suspension on its own is not proof that a crime happened.

• Warn range (blood-alcohol 0.05 to 0.079): an immediate roadside licence suspension of 7 days for a first occurrence, 14 days for a second occurrence, and 30 days for a third occurrence, along with a mandatory education or treatment course. A third occurrence also comes with a 6-month ignition-interlock condition.
• 0.08 or more, or failing/refusing a test: a driver with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, who fails or refuses a breath, blood, or fluid test, or who fails a drug-recognition evaluation, gets an immediate 90-day Administrative Driver’s Licence Suspension (ADLS), together with a mandatory education course (first occurrence) or treatment program (later occurrences). This happens automatically and runs alongside any separate criminal charge.

A test result of 0.08 or more, or a refusal, triggers this administrative suspension whether or not a criminal charge follows, and the suspension itself is not a criminal conviction. It is separate from the Criminal Code offence, which uses that same 0.08 threshold to define the crime and carries its own separate penalties on conviction — see the federal impaired-driving page linked above for that.

Zero-tolerance rules for young, novice, and commercial drivers

Some drivers must have no alcohol or drugs in their system at all, on top of the thresholds above:

• Drivers 21 and under, and novice drivers holding a G1, G2, M1, or M2 licence: the same escalating roadside suspension as warn range — 7 days, then 14 days, then 30 days for a third occurrence — plus, if convicted of the zero-tolerance offence, a fine and a possible extra 30-day or 90-day licence suspension.
• Commercial drivers (holding an A to F licence or a CVOR): a flat 3-day licence suspension for each occurrence.

Vehicle impoundment

Ontario impounds the vehicle for 7 days when the suspension is for a 0.08-or-more reading or a refusal to test. A warn-range suspension on its own does not trigger vehicle impoundment. If a driver is caught driving while under a licence suspension that came from an actual Criminal Code impaired-driving conviction, the impoundment period rises to a minimum of 45 days.

Ignition interlock

A driver convicted of a Criminal Code impaired-driving offence must install and use an ignition interlock device — it stops the vehicle from starting if it detects a blood-alcohol reading over 0.02 — for a minimum period set by how many convictions the driver has: at least 1 year for a first conviction, 3 years for a second, and 6 years for a third conviction.

Anyone who racks up three or more administrative suspensions within 10 years, without a criminal conviction, must also install an interlock device, for a minimum of 6 months. For offences on or after July 1, 2026, installing the device within 30 days of getting the licence back may qualify a driver for a shorter interlock period — a minimum of 9 months for a first conviction, or 2 years for a second.

Getting a licence back

Reinstatement fees, towing and storage costs, interlock costs, or program fees may also apply.

Ontario’s licence suspensions, vehicle impoundment, and ignition-interlock requirements apply alongside the criminal court process, not instead of it — a driver can face both at the same time. If a driver is convicted of the Criminal Code offence, the criminal court can also impose its own driving prohibition order under section 320.24 of the Criminal Code, which is separate from any Highway Traffic Act licence suspension described above.