Alberta Demerit Points: How the System Works (2026)

In Alberta, demerit points stay on your driving record for 2 years, and a fully licensed driver who reaches 15 points in that window faces an automatic 1-month licence suspension, while a GDL driver hits that mark at just 8 points.

How Alberta's demerit point system works

Alberta's Demerit Point Program is set out under the Traffic Safety Act and its regulations. Every time a driver is convicted of a designated offence, whether by paying the ticket, being found guilty in court, or losing a dispute, the Registrar of Motor Vehicle Services adds the matching number of points to that driver's record.

The points are tied to the conviction date, not the offence date, and they stay active for 2 years before dropping off automatically. There is no need to apply to have them removed. A driver can accumulate points from several convictions during that 2-year window, and once the oldest conviction passes the 2-year mark, its points expire on their own.

Alberta treats fully licensed Class 5 drivers differently from drivers still in the Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) program, because the whole point of GDL is to catch risky habits early, before a new driver has a full licence.

Suspension thresholds: fully licensed drivers

A driver holding a full Class 5 (or higher) licence faces these thresholds:

When the suspension period ends and the licence is reinstated, the driver does not start back at zero. Alberta reinstates the licence with 7 demerit points already on it, and those 7 points remain on the record for 2 years from the reinstatement date. The logic is that a driver who just served a demerit suspension is still being watched closely, so a second run of bad driving reaches the next threshold faster.

Suspension thresholds: GDL drivers (Class 7 learner and Class 5-GDL probationary)

New drivers in Stage 1 (Class 7 learner) or Stage 2 (Class 5-GDL probationary) face a much lower ceiling, because Alberta's graduated licensing program is designed to remove higher-risk new drivers from the road faster:

A GDL driver is reinstated with 3 demerit points already applied, again active for 2 years from reinstatement. Because the GDL threshold is roughly half of the fully licensed threshold, a single serious ticket, like careless driving or a large speeding infraction, can put a new driver most of the way to a suspension on its own.

Offence point table

Alberta assigns points by offence under the Traffic Safety Act regulations. The table below covers the violations drivers ask about most:

Distracted driving involving a hand-held cell phone or similar device carries 3 demerit points in Alberta, on top of a $390 fine. That combination, a real dollar fine plus a real point penalty, is the pattern for almost every offence on this list: the demerit points and the fine are two separate consequences of the same ticket, and paying the fine does not make the points go away.

Speeding penalties scale with how far over the limit a driver was clocked, which is why the table shows four separate speeding tiers. A driver clocked at 20 km/h over gets 3 points, while a driver clocked at 55 km/h over gets 6, the same as a careless driving conviction.

The advisory letter process

Before a driver ever reaches the suspension threshold, Alberta's Registrar mails an advisory letter once the point total climbs into a warning range (8 to 14 points for a fully licensed driver). The letter is not a suspension and does not restrict driving. It exists to warn the driver that they are approaching the point where a suspension becomes automatic, and to give them a chance to change driving habits, take a defensive driving course, or simply avoid further tickets until older points expire.

A driver who ignores the letter and keeps accumulating points will still hit the automatic suspension at 15 (or 8 for GDL) with no further discretion involved. The suspension itself is not something a Registrar chooses to impose case by case; once the point total crosses the line, it takes effect.

How demerit points affect insurance

Demerit points and insurance premiums are connected but not identical systems. Alberta auto insurers pull a driver's abstract, which lists convictions and demerit points, when setting or renewing a policy. Convictions that carry demerit points, especially careless driving, racing, and higher-tier speeding, are also the convictions insurers weight most heavily, so a driver does not need to reach a demerit suspension to see a premium increase. A single careless driving conviction (6 points) can raise a driver's rates for several years even if it never gets close to the 15-point suspension line.

A driver who actually reaches a demerit suspension will see a larger and more durable insurance impact, since a licence suspension itself becomes a permanent part of the driving history insurers review, separate from the points that expire after 2 years.

Reducing your point total

Alberta allows drivers approaching a suspension threshold to take an approved Defensive Driving Course or Professional Driver Improvement Course, which can remove points from a driving record. This is a proactive option, not something that happens automatically, and it works best when used before a driver reaches the automatic suspension line rather than after.

Outside of an approved course, the only way points come off a record is the automatic 2-year expiry tied to each individual conviction.

How this compares to other provinces

Every province runs its own demerit system, and Alberta's thresholds do not match Ontario's or British Columbia's. Ontario suspends a fully licensed driver at 15 points too, but reinstates at a different level and adds a mid-range warning at 9 to 14 points; Ontario novice G1/G2 drivers face suspension at just 9 points. British Columbia does not use a single suspension trigger at all; instead it layers a Driver Penalty Point premium, a discretionary point-based prohibition, and a separate Driver Risk Premium for high-risk convictions. If you split time between provinces or just want the full national picture, use the demerit points lookup tool to compare your province's rules side by side, or read the Ontario demerit points and British Columbia demerit points pages directly.

For the full picture of driving and traffic rules across Canada, including impaired driving, careless versus dangerous driving, and dash cam legality, see the Canada driving laws hub. Dash cam footage is legal to record and can support a dispute of a demerit-carrying ticket; see Canada recording laws for the consent rules that apply to using a dash cam.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information about Alberta's demerit point system and is not legal advice. Demerit point values and suspension rules can change; confirm current details with Alberta.ca or a licensed paralegal or lawyer before making decisions about a specific ticket or licence.