I was charged with impaired driving in Ontario — what happens next?
An impaired driving charge brings immediate administrative consequences — licence suspension and vehicle impoundment — that run separately from the criminal prosecution under the Criminal Code.
Two processes start at once. Administratively, a driver who registers over the limit or refuses a demand faces an immediate 90-day licence suspension and a seven-day vehicle impoundment under the Highway Traffic Act. These are not punishments imposed by a judge and they take effect regardless of the outcome of the criminal case.
The criminal process runs in parallel under the impaired driving provisions of the Criminal Code. It moves through disclosure, a Crown pre-trial, a judicial pre-trial and then trial. Defences commonly turn on the lawfulness of the stop and the detention, the timing and administration of the breath demand, the operation and maintenance of the instrument, and Charter breaches that may lead to exclusion of the evidence.
Get full disclosure before deciding anything. A conviction carries a mandatory minimum fine, a driving prohibition, ignition interlock conditions and insurance consequences that last years.
Source: Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46 · Highway Traffic Act
This work is handled by Gagan Pannu (Criminal defence). Read more about criminal defence at VK Law Group, or send us the facts and we will tell you where you stand.
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