DUI Penalties in Canada: Fines, Jail Time, and Bans

A first-offence impaired driving conviction in Canada carries a mandatory minimum $1,000 fine and a one-year federal driving prohibition, with the fine, the jail time, and the length of the driving ban all rising sharply for higher blood alcohol levels, refusal to test, and repeat offences.

Three separate penalties, not one

People often ask 'what is the penalty for a DUI in Canada' as if there is a single number. There is not. A conviction for impaired driving under the Criminal Code produces three distinct consequences that stack on top of each other and are decided by three different authorities.

The first is the criminal penalty, a fine or jail sentence imposed by the court under sections 320.19 to 320.21 of the Criminal Code. The second is the federal driving prohibition, a nationwide ban on operating any motor vehicle imposed by the same court under section 320.24. The third is the provincial licence suspension, an administrative action taken by your province's transportation or insurance authority (Ontario's Ministry of Transportation, Alberta Transportation, SAAQ in Quebec, or ICBC and RoadSafetyBC in British Columbia) that can begin immediately at the roadside, before any court has even seen the case.

These three penalties run on different clocks and are lifted by different processes. Understanding which is which matters because completing one, like paying the fine, does not end the other two.

Federal Criminal Code fines and jail time

Impaired operation (section 320.14) and having a prohibited blood alcohol concentration (section 320.15) are hybrid offences prosecutable by indictment or summary conviction. Section 320.19 sets out mandatory minimum punishments that apply regardless of which way the Crown proceeds.

These are floors, not ceilings. A judge can impose a heavier fine or a longer jail term based on aggravating factors, but cannot go below the minimum in the table. Prosecuted by indictment, a basic first or second offence can draw up to 10 years; prosecuted summarily, up to two years less a day.

How the first-offence fine scales with BAC

A first-time offender's fine is not flat. It steps up with the reading. At 80 to 119 mg of alcohol per 100 mL of blood, the minimum is $1,000. Cross into 120 to 159 mg%, and the floor rises to $1,500. At 160 mg% or above, twice the legal limit, the minimum jumps to $2,000. Courts routinely add costs, victim surcharges, and probation conditions on top of the bare minimum fine.

Refusing a breath or blood sample

Refusing or failing to comply with a lawful demand for a breath, blood, or physical coordination sample is its own offence under section 320.15, and it is penalized at least as severely as failing the test outright. Since December 2018, section 320.27(2) allows a police officer to demand a roadside breath sample from any lawfully stopped driver without needing to first suspect impairment, commonly called mandatory alcohol screening. A first-offence refusal carries the same $2,000 mandatory minimum fine as the highest BAC band, on the reasoning that a driver should not benefit from refusing to be tested.

Second and subsequent offences: mandatory jail time

Once a prior impaired driving conviction is on the record, the mandatory minimum shifts from a fine to jail. A second offence carries a minimum 30 days in custody; a third or any later offence carries a minimum 120 days. Section 320.26 defines what counts as a prior offence, and it includes convictions under the old Criminal Code provisions (former sections 253 to 255) as well as the current sections. There is no lookback window written into the Code. Unlike provincial demerit points, which typically clear after two years, a prior impaired driving conviction counts against you indefinitely for sentencing purposes.

Impaired driving causing bodily harm or death

When impaired operation, a prohibited BAC, or refusal to test is connected to a collision that injures someone, section 320.2 raises the maximum penalty to 14 years imprisonment on indictment (or two years less a day and a fine up to $5,000 summarily), while the same first, second, and subsequent-offence minimums from the table still apply as a floor. When the collision causes death, section 320.21 raises the maximum to life imprisonment, the most serious penalty in the Criminal Code short of murder. Aggravating factors that a court must weigh at sentencing, listed in section 320.22, include an especially high BAC, driving well above the speed limit, having young passengers in the vehicle, and causing multiple injuries or deaths.

The federal driving prohibition (separate from the fine or jail term)

On top of the criminal sentence, section 320.24 requires the court to impose a driving prohibition, a ban on operating any motor vehicle anywhere in Canada. For a first offence, the minimum is one year and the maximum is three years, on top of and starting only after any time actually served in custody. For a second offence, the range is two to 10 years. For a third or subsequent offence, the minimum is three years, again added on top of any custodial term. This prohibition is a federal, criminal-law consequence and is distinct from whatever your home province does with your driver's licence.

Provincial licence suspension: a third, separate penalty

Provinces layer their own administrative suspension on top of the two consequences above, and it usually starts long before the criminal case is finished. In Ontario, a driver who fails or refuses a roadside test faces an immediate 90-day Administrative Driver's Licence Suspension at the roadside, independent of any later conviction. British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec each run comparable immediate roadside sanctions through ICBC and RoadSafetyBC, Alberta Transportation, and the SAAQ respectively. A driver can therefore lose road privileges the same night as the stop, well before a court has decided anything, and then face the separate federal prohibition on top of that if convicted.

Ignition interlock program

Federal law allows a prohibited driver to apply to a provincial ignition interlock program, which lets someone drive earlier than the full prohibition would otherwise permit, as long as every vehicle they drive is fitted with a breath-testing device that blocks the ignition if it detects alcohol. Under the current rules, a first-time offender can apply immediately, a second-time offender must wait a minimum of three months into the prohibition, and a third or subsequent offender must wait a minimum of six months. Each province administers its own version of the program (Ontario's Ignition Interlock Program through the Ministry of Transportation is a typical example) and sets its own enrolment fees, monitoring rules, and minimum participation period, which can run longer than the federal minimum wait.

Mandatory remedial and education programs

Every province also requires a convicted driver to complete a remedial measures or education program before a suspended licence can be reinstated at all, separate from and in addition to the interlock requirement. Ontario's Back on Track program, delivered through a licensed treatment provider, includes an intake assessment, an education workshop, and a follow-up interview months later. Other provinces run their own equivalents. Skipping this step means the licence stays suspended even after the criminal prohibition period and any interlock condition have technically ended.

Criminal record consequences

A conviction under any of these Criminal Code sections is an adult criminal record, not a minor provincial ticket. It can show up on background checks for employment and volunteer positions, and it can complicate travel. Countries can refuse entry to visitors with a criminal driving conviction, and Canada itself treats a foreign impaired driving conviction as a ground of inadmissibility for people trying to enter Canada, so Canadians travelling abroad, including to the United States, should expect similar scrutiny at other borders. A record does not disappear on its own. The only route to clearing it is applying to the Parole Board of Canada for a record suspension once the required waiting period after completing the full sentence, probation included, has passed.

For the broader offence categories that this penalty ladder applies to, see Impaired Driving Laws in Canada. Demerit points and licence suspensions for non-impaired offences are covered separately; check your standing with the Canada demerit points lookup tool. For how a criminal driving record intersects with the rules on recording your own police interaction, see Canada Recording Laws. For the full set of provincial and federal driving rules, visit the Canada Driving Laws hub.

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about Canadian federal impaired driving law and is not legal advice. Impaired driving charges carry serious criminal consequences; consult a licensed criminal defence lawyer in your province about your specific situation.