Does a DUI Transfer From Province To Province?

So you are a resident of Saskatchewan and you have a Saskatchewan licence, and you are driving in Ontario one day and police pull you over and you get charged with a DUI and you eventually get convicted, after trial or pleading guilty. That’s the interesting question today. Does a DUI transfer from province to province? And the very short answer is “yes”. First of all, our Canadian Criminal Code is a federal statute which means it applies through out Canada. So that when you are convicted in Ontario, and let’s say the judge prohibits you from driving for one full year, which is a mandatory minimum by the way for a first offence. Up to three years by the way, but mandatory minimum of one year. That applies across Canada. So, you can’t drive in any province for one year. Now your own province, Saskatchewan for example, they are going to have their own separate licence suspension scheme, and they are going to notify you of whatever scheme they have, whatever ignition interlock program they do or don’t have. I am not an expert on Saskatchewan. I am an expert on Ontario. So, it applies to every province across Canada. You are going to be prohibited across the country but you are also forced to deal with that scheme in that particular province for the Ministry of Transportation. So, let’s look at Ontario, which I am an expert on. This is what we deal with in Ontario that’s where we practice law. First of all, the judge is going to prohibit you for one year from driving, the Ministry of Transportation in Ontario, they are also going to suspend your licence for one year, you may be able to qualify for ignition interlock, where you drive three months after your guilty plea, for nine months with the interlock device on. So that’s for a first offence. But the short answer is don’t think that you are going to be able to drive in another province. Don’t’ think what you are going to do, a lot of clients ask, “Mike, can I just get a licence in my own province in Newfoundland or move to another province” No, it’s not going to work that way. You’re going to show up on the CPIC police system, for that full year, across Canada, and if you get caught driving, you may wind up in jail, maybe for up to 30 days or more for driving while disqualified. That’s a pretty serious offence so, that’s the short answer of the question, it applies right across the province. So the real answer to this to avoid is don’t drink and drive.

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