Licence suspension Lawyers in Canada

Under section 320.24(1), when an offender is found guilty of an offence under section 320.14(1) or 320.15(1), the court that sentences the offender shall make an order prohibiting the offender from operating the type of conveyance in question. For a first offence the prohibition is not less than one year and not more than three years, plus the entire period of any imprisonment. For a second offence it is not less than two years and not more than 10 years, plus the imprisonment. For each later offence it is not less than three years, plus the imprisonment.

Section 320.24 also lets a court make a discretionary order for other offences that the section lists. The period depends on the maximum penalty. Where the offender is liable to imprisonment for life, the court sets any duration it considers appropriate. Where the maximum is more than five years but less than life, the period is not more than 10 years. In any other case it is not more than three years. In each case the entire period of any imprisonment is added.

A prohibition order takes effect on the day that it is made. Section 320.24(10) limits when a person may be registered in an alcohol ignition interlock device program: after a first offence, only once any period fixed by the court has ended; after a second offence, three months after the day the sentence is imposed or any longer period the court fixes; after a later offence, six months, or any longer period the court fixes.

Section 41 of the Highway Traffic Act suspends the licence of a person convicted of certain Criminal Code offences committed with a motor vehicle, including impaired operation under section 320.14 or 320.15. The suspension is for one year on a first conviction, three years on the first subsequent conviction and indefinitely after that. The longer periods apply only when the later conviction is within 10 years of the previous conviction. The section also refers to continuation of a suspension and to early reinstatement.

Section 48.3 works differently. Where a police officer is satisfied that a person driving or having the care, charge or control of a motor vehicle meets one of the criteria set out in subsection (3) of that section, the officer shall request that the person surrender their driver's licence. The licence is then suspended for 90 days from the time the request is made, whether or not the person is able to surrender it. That suspension follows a police officer's request. It does not follow a conviction.

Other sections of the Act set licence suspensions as part of the penalty for an offence. Careless driving under section 130 carries a fine, up to six months' imprisonment, or both, and a licence suspension of up to two years. When careless driving causes bodily harm or death, the suspension can be up to five years. Under section 200, a driver involved in an accident who does not remain at or return to the scene can face a suspension of up to two years. Under section 172, stunt driving or racing means a suspension of at least one year on a first conviction, at least three years on a second conviction and an indefinite suspension on a third or later conviction.

Driving during a suspension is its own offence. Under section 53(1) of the Highway Traffic Act, a person who drives a motor vehicle on a highway while their licence is suspended is liable, for a first offence, to a fine of $1,000 to $5,000, and for each later offence to a fine of $2,000 to $5,000. The section also allows imprisonment of up to six months, or both a fine and imprisonment. An increase in the first-offence fine has been passed but is not yet in force.

Driving during a Criminal Code prohibition is covered by section 320.18(1), which makes it an offence to operate a conveyance while prohibited by an order made under that Act. Section 320.18(2) sets an exception for a person who is registered in an alcohol ignition interlock device program in their province and complies with its conditions. Under section 320.19(5), the offence is punishable by up to 10 years on indictment, or by summary conviction.

In Ontario, every charge under the Criminal Code starts in the Ontario Court of Justice, and about 95% of charges are completed there. A prohibition order under section 320.24 is part of a Criminal Code sentence. This page does not describe where provincial offences under the Highway Traffic Act are heard.

After a conviction on indictment, an appeal goes to the court of appeal under section 675. A person may appeal as of right on a question of law alone. An appeal on a question of fact, or of mixed law and fact, needs leave, and so does an appeal against sentence. For a summary conviction, the appeal court in Ontario under section 812 is the Superior Court of Justice sitting in the region, district or county where the case was decided. The rules for reviewing or appealing a suspension imposed under the Highway Traffic Act are not covered here, and a lawyer can explain them.

Legal Aid Ontario may pay for a lawyer if the person qualifies and is charged with a crime that could mean jail on conviction, or is 12 to 17 and charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Duty counsel, a lawyer at the courthouse for that day, can advise on rights, ask to delay a court date, act at a bail hearing, help with a guilty plea, speak at sentencing, and meet the Crown, for people who qualify and have no lawyer.

A legal aid certificate pays a roster lawyer, one approved to take legal aid clients, for the length of the criminal case. Applications are online or by phone at 1-800-668-8258.

The Law Society of Ontario keeps a public Lawyer and Paralegal Directory, where a lawyer's licence can be looked up. The Ontario lawyers on this site are listed by city. Nothing on this page ranks or recommends any of them.