Impaired Driving (Quebec)

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

Quebec, like all provinces and territories in Canada, has strict laws to combat impaired driving. Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec states that alcohol-related accidents cause an average of 110 deaths, 260 serious injuries and 1,800 minor injuries yearly. In 2019, Quebec introduced legislation requiring those who have been found guilty of impaired driving a second time within 10 years to pass a breathalyzer test each time they drive.

Impaired driving is covered under Quebec's Highway Safety Code, which governs the use of vehicles, pedestrian traffic and road safety in the province. Police also have the option of charging you with impaired driving as a Criminal Code offence. In Quebec, you can be arrested if: your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is equal to or over 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood (0.08), measured within two hours after you stopped driving, meaning the offence can apply even if you were no longer behind the wheel when police tested you (though a defence exists if you consumed alcohol after stopping and were below the limit while actually driving); your ability to drive is impaired by drugs or alcohol, even if your blood alcohol concentration is below 0.08; and you refuse to comply with a peace officerPeople involved in upholding justice's lawful demand, such as a demand to breathe into an alcohol-screening device or to perform physical coordination tests.

Driving under the influence (DUI) is not limited to operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated by alcohol. Even over-the-counter drugs or prescription medicine can impact your ability to drive and lead to criminal charges.

You can also be charged while driving under the influence of illicit drugs and cannabis.

While cannabis is legal in Canada, the Criminal Code makes it an offence to have between two and five nanograms of THC (the primary psychoactive component of cannabis) per ml of blood when operating a vehicle.

Having five ng or more THC per ml of blood is an even more serious offenceAn indictable offence with a maximum punishment of five years or more.. The combined prohibited levels of alcohol and cannabis are 50mg or more of alcohol per 100 ml of blood and 2.5 ng or more of THC per ml of blood.
It should also be noted that impaired driving is not limited to the operation of a motor vehicle. You can be charged for being in control of a boat, snowmobile or off-road vehicles.

Police have the right to demand that a driver provide a breath sample without having a reasonable suspicion that they have consumed alcohol, following federal legislation that was introduced in December 2018. In explaining the change, the Department of Justice research suggested that up to 50 percent of drivers with a BAC above the legal limit may not be detected at roadside check stops. They reason that mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) "is a proven traffic safety measure that will deter and better detect alcohol-impaired drivers," stating rates of impaired driving and fatal accidents were "significantly reduced" in jurisdictions where it was introduced.

Prior to MAS, police could only demand a roadside breath test if there was reasonable proof a driver had been drinking, such as slurred speech.

If you are caught driving impaired, your licence will immediately be suspended for 24 hours or 90 days, depending on the circumstances. Your vehicle will be seized and impounded at your expense for 30 days.

If you are convicted in court, your licence will be suspended for a minimum of one year, and you will be fined a minimum of $1,000.
You may also be required to undergo and pay for alcohol and risk assessments. If you are at risk for alcohol or drug abuse, you must undergo a more extensive assessment. If the initial assessment shows no sign of substance dependency, you will be required to complete the Alcoferin program – which educates drivers on the dangers of drinking and driving – to have your licence reinstated.

An alcohol ignition interlock device, which prevents your vehicle from starting if it detects alcohol in your system, will be installed at your cost. Court will decide how long it stays on.

Refusing to provide a breath sample will not prevent police from charging you.

In Quebec, refusing to obey the orders of a peace officer will result in:

• an immediate licence suspension for 90 days;
• the immediate seizure and impoundment of your vehicle for 30 days, or 90 days for a repeat offence;
• referral to a program to access and reduce the risk of impaired driving;
• possible installation of an alcohol ignition interlock device; and
• revocation of your driver's licence and imposition of conditions to meet to obtain a new licence upon conviction.

If you have a probationary licence and you are caught with any amount of drugs or alcohol in your system, you will be fined $300 to $600 and assessed four demerit points. Your driver's licence will be immediately suspended for 90 days.

You will also face the same consequences as a regularly licensed driver if your BAC is 0.80 or more.

Impaired driving has two separate layers of consequences in Quebec. 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 Quebec’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 suspensions and BAC thresholds

Quebec police can suspend a driver’s licence immediately at the roadside. These are administrative suspensions imposed by a peace officer on behalf of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) — they are not a criminal conviction, and they can happen before, or entirely without, any criminal charge going to court.

• A 24-hour suspension where physical coordination tests give reasonable grounds to suspect impairment.
• A 90-day suspension where a breath test shows a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 80 mg or more per 100 mL of blood. This is the same number used in the separate Criminal Code offence, but the suspension itself is an administrative roadside measure — not a criminal charge or conviction.
• A 90-day suspension for refusing or failing to comply with a breath, coordination or evaluation demand.
• A 90-day suspension where an evaluating officer’s assessment or approved drug-screening equipment indicates drug impairment.

A 90-day suspension can be reviewed by the SAAQ, and an unfavourable review decision can be appealed to the Administrative Tribunal of Québec within 10 days.

Zero tolerance for new and young drivers

Holders of a learner’s or probationary licence, certain restricted-licence holders, and every driver 21 years of age or younger may not have any alcohol in their body at all while driving — not just be impaired. This is a separate zero-tolerance threshold, distinct from the 80 mg administrative and criminal-impairment levels described above: any detectable alcohol triggers a 90-day licence suspension for a driver in this group.

Vehicle seizure and impoundment

Quebec can also seize and impound a vehicle, at the owner’s expense, separately from any licence suspension:

• A 30-day seizure where the BAC is 160 mg or more per 100 mL — double the 80 mg threshold above — or for a refusal, where the driver has no relevant licence cancellation in the preceding 10 years.
• A 90-day seizure for a repeat within 10 years, or where the driver was already subject to the vehicle-operation ban described below.
• A 30-day seizure for driving while already under an alcohol-related licence suspension.

Driving a seized or impounded vehicle is itself a separate provincial offence, carrying a fine of $600 to $2,000 — a regulatory fine, not a criminal penalty. Refusing a screening demand or breaching the zero-tolerance rule can carry a fine of $300 to $600, and refusing a physical-coordination-test demand can carry a fine of $200 to $300.

Licence cancellation, ignition interlock and getting back on the road

These measures follow a Criminal Code impaired-driving conviction, layered on top of whatever the criminal court itself orders:

• The licence is automatically cancelled, with a new licence barred for 1, 3 or 5 years depending on the driver’s cancellation history in the preceding 10 years — or longer if the criminal court’s own driving prohibition runs longer.
• To drive again, most people must complete an assessment and then drive only a vehicle fitted with a government-approved ignition interlock device: 1 year for a first offence, 2 years where the BAC was 160 mg or more or the driver refused, or for life for a repeat within 10 years (removable by court application only after 10 years, and only on a first repeat).
• A driver with two or more prior alcohol- or drug-related licence cancellations, or one prior at the 160 mg level, in the preceding 10 years is barred from operating or registering any vehicle at all unless driving under an interlock-restricted licence.

Reinstatement fees, towing and storage costs, interlock costs, or program fees may also apply.

Quebec’s administrative measures run alongside the Criminal Code process, not instead of it — a person can face a roadside suspension, a vehicle seizure, or a licence cancellation and still go through a separate criminal court case for the same incident. A criminal court’s own driving prohibition, ordered under Criminal Code s. 320.24, is a distinct measure from the SAAQ suspensions, seizures and cancellation periods described above, even though the two can run at the same time.