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Impaired driving, commonly called drinking and driving or a DUI, is treated as a serious criminal matter in Canada, not a minor traffic offence. A conviction carries mandatory minimum penalties even for a first offence, and the consequences increase sharply for repeat charges.
Vilkhov Law's DUI and impaired driving lawyers represent clients across Toronto and the GTA, from the roadside stop through bail, disclosure, and trial.
Impaired driving and over-80 charges each turn on specific, technical elements: whether your ability to operate the vehicle was actually impaired, whether you were over the legal blood alcohol limit, and whether you had care and control of the vehicle in the first place. Roadside procedure, breath testing equipment, and Charter compliance are frequently the strongest grounds of defence.
At Vilkhov Law, our lawyers review the roadside and breath testing evidence, the timing and manner of any demand for a sample, and whether you were genuinely in care and control of the vehicle, to build a defence suited to your specific charge.
Igor Vilkhov, founder of Vilkhov Law, has defended clients facing impaired driving and over-80 charges across the Greater Toronto Area. He is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Criminal Lawyers' Association.
Benson Wilson, a criminal defence lawyer at the firm, has experience with bail and driving prohibition issues in DUI matters, and works with clients through the disclosure and pre-trial process that these charges typically involve.
Igor and Benson review the specific facts of each stop, from the reason police had for approaching you to the breath testing procedure that followed.
Under section 320.14(1)(a) of the Criminal Code of Canada, you can be charged with impaired driving if your ability to operate a conveyance, such as a motor vehicle, is impaired by drugs, alcohol, or a combination of both.
To prove impaired driving, the Crown must show that your ability to operate the vehicle was impaired by alcohol or drugs, and that you had care and control of it. Even a trivial degree of impairment can be enough to support a conviction.
Under section 320.11 of the Criminal Code, a conveyance means a motor vehicle, a vessel, an aircraft, or railway equipment.
You do not need to be driving to be charged. Care and control generally means you were in a position to set the vehicle in motion, such as sitting in the driver's seat with access to the keys, even if the vehicle was parked and not moving. Whether care and control is made out depends closely on the specific circumstances, including where you were sitting, whether the engine was running, and what you intended to do.
Impaired driving requires proof that your driving ability was actually impaired by alcohol or drugs. A driving over 80 charge under section 320.14(1)(b) is different: it means your blood alcohol concentration was at or over the legal limit of 80 mg of alcohol per 100 mL of blood, or your blood drug concentration was at or over the prescribed limit, regardless of whether your driving was actually affected. For more details on that specific charge, see our driving 80-and-over page.
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If police stop you, they can demand a roadside breath sample. Refusing can result in a separate charge of refusing to provide a sample. Depending on the result, police can suspend your licence for 3 or 90 days and impound your vehicle for 7 days, impose associated financial penalties, and issue any criminal charges.
Typically, you will be released directly by police. If a serious accident, injury, or death occurred, you may instead be held for a bail hearing before a judicial official within 24 hours of your arrest. Bail conditions in impaired driving cases often include a driving prohibition.
Bail is assessed on three grounds: whether you are a flight risk, whether you pose a threat to public safety, and whether detention is necessary to maintain confidence in the administration of justice. Under the ladder principle, reaffirmed in R. v. Antic, 2017 SCC 27, the least restrictive conditions that address the Crown's concerns must be imposed.
Your lawyer requests full disclosure of the Crown's evidence, including breath testing records, maintenance logs for the testing equipment, and officer notes, and reviews it for inconsistencies and Charter issues. Negotiations with the Crown at the pre-trial stage are often central to how impaired driving cases resolve.
Where the Crown proceeds by indictment, you will be asked to choose your mode of trial: a provincial court judge, a judge alone in the Superior Court, or a judge and jury.
Impaired driving carries mandatory minimum penalties, which increase for repeat offences.
| Offence | Minimum Penalty | Maximum Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| First offence | $1,000 fine and a 1-year driving prohibition | 2 years less a day and/or $5,000 fine summarily; 10 years on indictment |
| Second offence | 30 days' imprisonment and a longer driving prohibition | 10 years on indictment |
| Third and subsequent offences | 120 days' imprisonment and a 3-year driving prohibition | 10 years on indictment |
A conviction also typically requires attendance at drug and alcohol counselling. These minimums remain in force; unlike the CDSA drug offences, impaired driving mandatory minimum penalties were specifically retained when other mandatory minimums were repealed in 2022.
Every DUI case turns on the specific facts of the stop, the testing procedure, and the evidence of impairment or blood alcohol concentration.
They refer to the same general area of law. DUI is the common term; impaired driving under section 320.14(1)(a) of the Criminal Code is the formal offence, which is legally distinct from a driving over 80 charge under section 320.14(1)(b).
It means being in a position to set the vehicle in motion, such as sitting in the driver's seat with access to the keys, even if you were not actively driving. Whether it applies depends closely on the specific circumstances.
Impaired driving requires proof that alcohol or drugs actually affected your ability to drive. Driving 80 and over requires only proof that your blood alcohol or drug concentration was at or above the legal limit, regardless of whether your driving was visibly affected.
You can be charged with refusing to provide a breath sample, a separate offence. Police can also suspend your licence and administratively impound your vehicle, in addition to any criminal charges.
At minimum, a $1,000 fine and a 1-year driving prohibition, along with mandatory attendance at drug and alcohol counselling. The maximum on indictment is 10 years.
Yes. Unlike the mandatory minimums for CDSA drug offences, which were repealed in 2022, mandatory minimums for impaired driving were specifically retained: a $1,000 fine for a first offence, 30 days for a second, and 120 days for a third or subsequent offence.
Yes, in many cases. Common grounds include challenging whether you were in care and control of the vehicle, Charter issues with the stop or breath demand, and the reliability or maintenance of the testing equipment.
Given the mandatory minimum penalties and the technical, evidence-heavy nature of these cases, including breath testing procedure and equipment maintenance records, early legal representation significantly improves your ability to identify a strong defence.
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