Impaired Driving (N.L.)

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

Newfoundland and Labrador amended its Highway Traffic Act (HTA) in 2017 to reduce impaired driving incidents. If you are caught with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher, your driver's licence will be immediately suspended for seven days at the roadside. Depending on the test result, a further 90-day suspension follows. You may also be charged criminally and may face a fine, a driving prohibition and, if you have injured or killed someone, imprisonment.

It is important to remember that impaired driving is not limited to driving under the influence of alcohol. Prescription medication and over-the-counter drugs can affect your driving ability, especially if combined with even a small amount of alcohol.

In 2018, the federal government updated the Criminal Code to deal with the legalization of cannabis. THC is the primary psychoactive component of cannabis. It is a less serious offenceAn indictable offence with a maximum punishment of five years or more. to have between two and five nanograms (ng) of THC per ml of blood within two hours of ceasing to operate a vehicle. This offence carries a maximum fine of $1,000 and no jail time. It is a more serious offence if you have five ng or more of THC per ml of blood within two hours of ceasing to operate a vehicle. The combined prohibited level of alcohol and cannabis is 50 mg or more of alcohol per 100 ml of blood and 2.5 ng or more of THC per ml of blood.

Newfoundland has a zero-tolerance policy for novice drivers. Those younger than 22 will be required to maintain a blood alcohol content of zero percent while driving. Novice drivers and drivers under 22 will have their vehicles immediately impounded for seven days if they are found to have a BAC greater than zero but less than 0.08.

The federal government introduced mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) in 2019. This amendment to the Criminal Code means police no longer need proof to demand a breath test during a roadside stop.

You cannot avoid criminal charges by refusing to submit to a breath test. Refusing or failing to comply with a demand for a sample is its own separate offence under s. 320.15(1) of the Criminal Code. Under s. 320.19(4), the minimum fine for a first offence under s. 320.15(1) is $2,000, replacing the $1,000 first-offence minimum otherwise set by s. 320.19(1). Penalties for refusal can also include imprisonment and a driving prohibition.

Newfoundland and Labrador have a 12-month minimum mandatory ignition interlock program for drivers whose licence is suspended after an impaired driving conviction that allows for the early reinstatement of a driver's licence. The device is installed on your vehicle, and you must provide an alcohol-free breath sample to start your vehicle.

Once the ignition is started, the device will request breath samples intermittently as long the vehicle is running. If a sample is not provided or your BAC is over the legal limit, the device will log the event, warn you, and trigger an alarm that will sound until you turn the ignition off. Tampering with the interlock can lead to a fine of up to $1,000 for a motor vehicle and $20,000 for a commercial vehicle.

Eligibility for the program includes:

• conviction of impaired driving or refusing a breathalyzer demand;
• authorization by the court to use an ignition interlock device;
• a court-ordered minimum mandatory prohibition period must be served;
• no other suspension in place, and all outstanding fines paid;
• completion of all other reinstatement requirements and conditions; and
• valid registration and insurance on the vehicle in which the interlock is to be installed.

Once installed, the device must be used by anyone who drives the vehicle. You will be required to cover the cost of installation, maintenance and removal of the device.

Impaired driving has two separate layers of consequences in Newfoundland and Labrador. 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 Newfoundland and Labrador’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.

Roadside licence suspensions and thresholds

Under the Highway Traffic Act, a police officer can suspend a driver’s licence immediately at the roadside, without waiting for any criminal court case to finish. For a driver who is 22 or older and not a novice driver, a blood-alcohol concentration of 50 mg or more of alcohol per 100 mL of blood (roughly a .05 reading) brings an immediate 7-day suspension. If the reading is 80 mg or more per 100 mL (a .08 reading — the same concentration used for the criminal charge), a further 90-day suspension follows, starting on the 14th day after the 7-day suspension ends. Refusing or failing to comply with a breath or blood demand carries that same 7-day-plus-90-day pattern. Drivers of commercial vehicles, taxis and rideshare vehicles face this identical .05/.08 suspension structure — they are not held to a zero-alcohol standard under these roadside-suspension provisions, though a separate drug-presence screening rule does apply to them.

A driver who racks up more than one 7-day roadside suspension within 24 months faces a longer suspension each time: 14 days for a second suspension, 2 months for a third, 4 months for a fourth, and 6 months for a fifth or later suspension.

Zero tolerance for young and novice drivers

A driver under 22 who is not a novice driver must have zero alcohol in their system while driving. Any positive reading brings an immediate 7-day suspension, and a reading of 80 mg or more per 100 mL adds the same further 90-day suspension described above. Novice drivers of any age face their own escalating scale for reasonable-grounds drug impairment or a low positive alcohol reading: 2 months for a first occasion, 4 months for a second, and 6 months for a third or later occasion. A reading of 80 mg or more, or a refusal, brings an immediate flat 90-day suspension instead of the escalating scale.

Vehicle impoundment

Separately from any licence suspension, the Vehicle Seizure and Impoundment Regulations, 2012 require an officer to impound (tow and hold) the vehicle itself. A reading of 50 mg up to just under 80 mg per 100 mL (or, for a novice or under-22 driver, any positive reading below 80 mg) brings a 7-day impoundment. A reading of 80 mg or more brings a 30-day impoundment, and so does refusing or failing to provide a sample. Impairment by drugs brings a 7-day impoundment. Removing an impounded vehicle other than through this process is itself a fine-only offence of up to $5,000 — it does not carry a jail term under this provision.

Driving prohibitions after a criminal conviction

These roadside actions are separate from what happens if a driver is later convicted of an impaired-driving or refusal offence under the Criminal Code. On a conviction, the Registrar of Motor Vehicles orders its own provincial driving prohibition, on top of anything a criminal court itself may order. This provincial prohibition follows two different tracks depending on what the conviction involved:

• By number of convictions: 12 months for a first conviction, 36 months for a second conviction within 10 years, 60 months for a third conviction within 10 years, and a lifetime prohibition for a fourth or later conviction within 10 years.
• By the harm involved: where the conviction was specifically for causing bodily harm, the prohibition is 10 years, regardless of how many prior convictions there were; where it was specifically for causing death, the prohibition is for life.

If a criminal court itself orders a longer prohibition as part of sentencing, the province matches that longer period rather than applying the shorter administrative default. This provincial prohibition is a licensing action taken by the Registrar and is separate from any driving prohibition a criminal court orders directly under the Criminal Code.

Mandatory ignition interlock

Once a driver whose licence was suspended after one of these convictions becomes eligible to apply for early reinstatement, the Registrar requires them to use an ignition interlock device — a breath-testing lock wired into the vehicle’s ignition — as a condition of getting back on the road: 12 months for a first conviction, 36 months for a second conviction within 10 years, and 60 months for a third or later conviction within 10 years. Driving without a required device, or tampering with one, is itself a Highway Traffic Act violation, with fines ranging from $200 to $1,000 for a non-commercial vehicle and $200 to $20,000 for a commercial vehicle.

Reinstatement and other costs

Getting a licence back after a suspension, impoundment, or interlock requirement can involve additional costs on top of these consequences. Reinstatement fees, towing and storage costs, interlock costs, or program fees may also apply.

These roadside suspensions, vehicle impoundments, driving prohibitions, and interlock requirements are administrative measures taken under Newfoundland and Labrador’s own Highway Traffic Act and its regulations. They operate alongside the criminal court process, not instead of it, and none of them is a criminal conviction or a criminal record on its own. The criminal charge itself, and any driving prohibition a criminal court orders directly as part of a Criminal Code sentence, is decided separately, in criminal court, under the Criminal Code of Canada.