Impaired Driving (Manitoba)

If you are operating a motor vehicle, boat, aircraft or railway equipment, your driver's licence can be immediately suspended if:

• police believe you are unable to safely operate a motor vehicle due to being under the influence of a drug;
• you fail an oral fluid drug screening device test or register "warn" or a "fail" on a breath screening device;
• you have a blood alcohol concentration equal to or over .05;
• you fail a physical coordination test; or
• police determine that they are too impaired to perform a physical coordination test or to comply with a demand to supply a breath, oral fluid, or blood sample.

Your driver's licence can be suspended for three months if:

• you refuse to provide a breath, oral fluid, or blood sample;
• you refuse to take part in a physical coordination test or drug recognition evaluation test;
• you fail to follow police instructions during the relevant tests; or
• you register a BAC equal to or over .08 or have blood test results exceeding legal levels.

Under Manitoba's Immediate Roadside Prohibition (IRP), if you register a "WARN" (a BAC of .05 to .079) on a breathalyzer, your vehicle will be impounded for three days. The fine increases to $600, a 30-day vehicle impoundment for a third offence, and a mandatory ignition interlock.

Under the IRP, a first-time offender who registers a BAC of .08 or over who is not involving serious bodily harm, death, or other significant aggravating circumstances can face an immediate penalty of $700, mandatory ignition interlock use for one year, driver's licence suspension for three months and vehicle impoundment for 30 days. 

Along with the immediate roadside sanctions, police can lay criminal charges. If you are convicted of impaired driving, you face a minimum $1,000 fine for a first conviction that can jump to a minimum of $1,500 for a BAC between .12 and .16.

There is a mandatory minimum jail sentence of 30 days for a second conviction and 120 days for subsequent convictions. There is also a minimum one-year driving prohibition for a first conviction, two years for a second conviction and a minimum three-year driving prohibition for subsequent convictions.

If you are convicted of impaired driving causing bodily harm, you could be imprisoned for up to 10 years. A conviction for impaired driving causing death is punishable by a maximum life in prison. 

If you are convicted under the Criminal Code, you also face the following licence suspensions under Manitoba’s Highway Traffic Act:

• One year for a first conviction for driving impaired or driving at or over .08, five years for a second conviction, 10 years for a third conviction and a lifetime suspension for four or more convictions within 10 years.
• Two years for a first conviction for refusing to provide a breath or blood sample, seven years for a second conviction, 10 years for a third conviction and a lifetime suspension for four or more convictions within 10 years.
• Five years for a first conviction for impaired driving causing bodily harm or death, 10 years for a second conviction and a lifetime suspension for three convictions or more within 10 years.