Impaired Driving (Saskatchewan)

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

According to Statistics Canada, Saskatchewan has historically had one of the highest police-reported rates of impaired driving incidents among all provinces. Saskatchewan registered a rate of 539 incidents per 100,000 population in 2019, second only to Prince Edward Island. It was the first time in more than 20 years that a province other than Saskatchewan recorded the highest rate.

In Saskatchewan, like the rest of Canada, you face a criminal conviction if you drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) equal to or over 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood (.08). Even if you are not found criminally impaired, you face consequences for exceeding provincial limits. At a blood alcohol concentration of .04 or more, Saskatchewan can impose an immediate administrative licence suspension.

Saskatchewan’s Traffic Safety Act (TSA) lays out the rules and obligations governing driver licensing, vehicle registration and motor vehicle operation. That includes the rules of the road, offences and penalties.

Canada’s Criminal Code also contains provisions dealing with impaired driving, which is not limited to the consumption of alcohol. It should be remembered that prescription and over-the-counter drugs can impact your driving ability, especially if combined with even a small amount of alcohol. 

If you are pulled over driving with a BAC as low as .04, your licence will be suspended and your vehicle will be impounded. Under Saskatchewan's Traffic Safety Act, the administrative penalties escalate with repeat occurrences within a 10-year window.

For a first occurrence, an experienced driver receives a 3-day licence suspension and a 3-day vehicle impoundment, and must complete a mandatory Driving Without Impairment (DWI) course. A second occurrence within 10 years brings a 21-day suspension and a 7-day impoundment; a mandatory prescribed program is also required. For a third or subsequent occurrence within 10 years, the suspension is 90 days and the impoundment is 14 days; drivers must also complete an education or recovery program recommended by an addictions counsellor, and a one-year ignition interlock requirement applies.

If police charge you with impaired driving, you will face a trial in a criminal court. Your licence will be suspended immediately at the roadside until the charges are resolved in court. Your vehicle will be impounded for 30 days if your BAC is less than .16. Anything above that will result in a 60-day impoundment. Refusal or failure to take a roadside breathalyzer or refusing a police demand can result in your vehicle being impounded for 60 days. If you are a first-time offender and you are convicted of impaired driving or over .08 under the Criminal Code, you face a minimum fine of $1,000, and your licence will be suspended for one year. A second offence comes with a jail term of 30 days, while you will be incarcerated for 120 days for each subsequent conviction. If you cause an accident that injures someone, you can be charged with impaired driving causing bodily harm, which is a more serious charge carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. The penalties for impaired driving causing death include life in prison. Once a conviction is registered, the province will send you a letter outlining an education program you must attend at your cost. Your licence will only be reinstated if you complete the program in the specified time. Saskatchewan has a zero-tolerance policy for drug-impaired driving for all drivers. Any driver charged with impaired driving under the Criminal Code will have their licence suspended indefinitely until their charges are resolved in court.

Impaired driving has two separate layers of consequences in Saskatchewan. 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 Saskatchewan’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.

The .04 warn range: roadside suspensions for experienced drivers

Saskatchewan’s administrative rules are set out in The Traffic Safety Act and are enforced by police and SGI (Saskatchewan Government Insurance), separately from any criminal case. For an experienced driver (22 or older, fully licensed), a roadside reading of 40 mg of alcohol per 100 mL of blood (a .04 BAC) or higher — but below the .08 criminal threshold — or a positive roadside drug screen, brings an immediate licence suspension: 3 days for a first occurrence in the past 10 years, 21 days for a second, and 90 days for a third or later occurrence. If a passenger under 16 was in the vehicle, the suspension is longer: 7, 30, or 120 days for the same first, second, or third-or-later occurrences. Occurrences are counted over a 10-year look-back, and count administrative suspension notices, not criminal convictions. A warn-range suspension is not a criminal conviction and does not, by itself, create a criminal record.

Zero tolerance for new and young drivers

A different threshold applies to newer and younger drivers: anyone 21 years of age or younger, a Learner (Class 7), a Class 5 Novice 1 or 2, certain motorcycle-learner endorsements, a driver with no licence in the past 5 years, an out-of-country driver whose licence class can’t be matched, or a restricted-licence holder. For these drivers, any detectable alcohol brings a roadside suspension of 60 days for a first occurrence, 120 days for a second, or 18 months for a third or later occurrence, on the same 10-year look-back. Zero tolerance for drugs applies to every driver, new or experienced, regardless of age.

Immediate, indefinite suspension at .08 or higher, drug impairment, or refusal

Once police have grounds to believe a driver has a BAC of 80 mg% (.08) or higher — the same threshold as the Criminal Code offence — is drug-impaired in a way the Criminal Code covers, or has refused a breath, blood, or drug evaluation demand without a reasonable excuse, Saskatchewan suspends the licence immediately. This suspension is indefinite: it continues until the linked Criminal Code charge is withdrawn or stayed, or the driver is acquitted or convicted, however long that takes. The vehicle is also impounded — 30 days where the charge is impaired driving only or a BAC under 160 mg%, or 60 days where the charge involves a refusal or a BAC of 160 mg% or more.

Vehicle impoundment

Saskatchewan impounds the vehicle at the roadside, on the same notice as the licence suspension:

• Experienced drivers (.04 warn range or drug-impaired): 3 days for a first occurrence in the past 10 years, 7 days for a second, 14 days for a third or later occurrence — or 7, 30, or 60 days if a passenger under 16 was in the vehicle.
• New and young drivers (zero tolerance): 3, 7, or 14 days for a first, second, or third-or-later occurrence — or 7, 30, or 60 days if a passenger under 16 was in the vehicle.
• Drivers suspended immediately and indefinitely at .08 or higher, for drug impairment, or for refusal: 30 or 60 days, as described above.

Ignition interlock

Ignition interlock in Saskatchewan runs on two separate tracks. On the administrative side, interlock becomes mandatory before licence reinstatement once a driver reaches a third or later occurrence within the 10-year look-back, on either track: one year for an experienced driver, one year for a new or young driver. At a second occurrence, a new or young driver may voluntarily install an interlock device to become eligible for earlier reinstatement, or may instead simply serve out the full suspension with no interlock; an experienced driver has no interlock option at a second occurrence, only the Act’s education or program requirement.

Separately, if the driver is later convicted of the Criminal Code offence, a post-conviction ignition interlock requirement applies before the licence can be reinstated, for a period of 1, 2, 3, 5, or 10 years. The exact length depends on both the BAC reading and how many prior convictions the driver has — it is not a simple first, second, or third schedule.

Getting your licence back, and other consequences

Reinstatement fees, towing and storage costs, interlock costs, or program fees may also apply. An impaired-driving administrative suspension also brings a deduction of 4 points under Saskatchewan’s Safe Driver Recognition (SDR) program, on any occurrence, either track. A suspension or vehicle impoundment can be appealed to the Highway Traffic Board.

Driving while an administrative suspension is in effect is its own separate offence under the Act (s. 140(5)-(6)): a fine of up to $1,000 for a first breach, and a fine of up to $2,000 plus up to 2 years’ imprisonment for a repeat breach. That penalty is for breaching the suspension order itself, not for the impaired driving that led to it — Saskatchewan does not impose provincial jail time over impaired driving itself; any jail time tied to the impaired-driving offence comes only through a Criminal Code conviction.

These administrative measures apply alongside the Criminal Code process covered on the federal impaired-driving page — not instead of it. A driver can face a Saskatchewan roadside suspension or vehicle impoundment and a separate Criminal Code prosecution over the same incident, and a court-ordered driving prohibition under Criminal Code s. 320.24 (imposed only after a conviction) is separate again from the provincial suspensions described above.

Note: In June 2026, the Government of Saskatchewan announced it was considering additional administrative penalties for failing a roadside breath test. As of this page, that is a proposal under consideration only, with no effective date, and it is not part of the law described above.