Impaired Driving

Question 1

320.11 The following definitions apply in this Part.

analyst means

Answer 1

a person who is, or a person who is a member of a class of persons that is, designated by the Attorney General under subparagraph 320.4(b)(ii) or paragraph 320.4(c). (analyste)

Question 2

approved container means

Answer 2

a container that is designed to receive a sample of a person’s blood for analysis and that is approved by the Attorney General of Canada under paragraph 320.39(d). (contenant approuvé)

Question 3

approved drug screening equipment means

Answer 3

equipment that is designed to ascertain the presence of a drug in a person’s body and that is approved by the Attorney General of Canada under paragraph 320.39(b). (matériel de détection des drogues approuvé)

Question 4

approved instrument means

Answer 4

an instrument that is designed to receive and make an analysis of a sample of a person’s breath to determine their blood alcohol concentration and that is approved by the Attorney General of Canada under paragraph 320.39(c). (éthylomètre approuvé)

Question 5

approved screening device means

Answer 5

a device that is designed to ascertain the presence of alcohol in a person’s blood and that is approved by the Attorney General of Canada under paragraph 320.39(a). (appareil de détection approuvé)

Question 6

conveyance means

Answer 6

a motor vehicle, a vessel, an aircraft or railway equipment. (moyen de transport)

Question 7

evaluating officer means

Answer 7

a peace officer who has the qualifications prescribed by regulation that are required in order to act as an evaluating officer. (agent évaluateur)

Question 8

operate means

Answer 8

(a) in respect of a motor vehicle, to drive it or to have care or control of it;
(b) in respect of a vessel or aircraft, to navigate it, to assist in its navigation or to have care or control of it; and
(c) in respect of railway equipment, to participate in the direct control of its motion, or to have care or control of it as a member of the equipment’s crew, as a person who acts in lieu of a member of the equipment’s crew by remote control, or otherwise. (conduire)

Question 9

qualified medical practitioner means

Answer 9

a person who is qualified under provincial law to practice medicine. (médecin qualifié)

Question 10

qualified technician means

Answer 10

(a) in respect of breath samples, a person who is designated by the Attorney General under paragraph 320.4(a); and
(b) in respect of blood samples, a person who is, or a person who is a member of a class of persons that is, designated by the Attorney General under subparagraph 320.4(b)(i). (technicien qualifié)

Question 11

320.13

Answer 11

Marginal note: Dangerous operation
(1) Everyone commits an offence who operates a conveyance in a manner that, having regard to all of the circumstances, is dangerous to the public.

Marginal note:Operation causing bodily harm
(2) Everyone commits an offence who operates a conveyance in a manner that, having regard to all of the circumstances, is dangerous to the public and, as a result, causes bodily harm to another person.

Marginal note:Operation causing death
(3) Everyone commits an offence who operates a conveyance in a manner that, having regard to all of the circumstances, is dangerous to the public and, as a result, causes the death of another person.

Question 12

Marginal note:Operation while impaired

320.14 (1) Everyone commits an offence who

Answer 12

(a) operates a conveyance while the person’s ability to operate it is impaired to any degree by alcohol or a drug or by a combination of alcohol and a drug;
(b) subject to subsection (5), has, within two hours after ceasing to operate a conveyance, a blood alcohol concentration that is equal to or exceeds 80 mg of alcohol in 100 mL of blood;
(c) subject to subsection (6), has, within two hours after ceasing to operate a conveyance, a blood drug concentration that is equal to or exceeds the blood drug concentration for the drug that is prescribed by regulation; or
(d) subject to subsection (7), has, within two hours after ceasing to operate a conveyance, a blood alcohol concentration and a blood drug concentration that is equal to or exceeds the blood alcohol concentration and the blood drug concentration for the drug that are prescribed by regulation for instances where alcohol and that drug are combined.

Question 13

Marginal note:Operation causing bodily harm

Answer 13

(2) Everyone commits an offence who commits an offence under subsection (1) and who, while operating the conveyance, causes bodily harm to another person.

Question 14

Marginal note:Operation causing death

Answer 14

(3) Everyone commits an offence who commits an offence under subsection (1) and who, while operating the conveyance, causes the death of another person.

Question 15

Marginal note:Operation — low blood drug concentration

Answer 15

(4) Subject to subsection (6), everyone commits an offence who has, within two hours after ceasing to operate a conveyance, a blood drug concentration that is equal to or exceeds the blood drug concentration for the drug that is prescribed by regulation and that is less than the concentration prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (1)(c).

Question 16

Marginal note:Exception — alcohol

(5) No person commits an offence under paragraph (1)(b) if

Answer 16

(a) they consumed alcohol after ceasing to operate the conveyance;
(b) after ceasing to operate the conveyance, they had no reasonable expectation that they would be required to provide a sample of breath or blood; and
(c) their alcohol consumption is consistent with their blood alcohol concentration as determined in accordance with subsection 320.31(1) or (2) and with their having had, at the time when they were operating the conveyance, a blood alcohol concentration that was less than 80 mg of alcohol in 100 mL of blood.

Question 17

Marginal note:Exception — drugs

(6) No person commits an offence under paragraph (1)(c) or subsection (4) if

Answer 17

(a) they consumed the drug after ceasing to operate the conveyance; and
(b) after ceasing to operate the conveyance, they had no reasonable expectation that they would be required to provide a sample of a bodily substance.

Question 18

Marginal note:Exception — combination of alcohol and drug

(7) No person commits an offence under paragraph (1)(d) if

Answer 18

(a) they consumed the drug or the alcohol or both after ceasing to operate the conveyance;
(b) after ceasing to operate the conveyance, they had no reasonable expectation that they would be required to provide a sample of a bodily substance; and
(c) their alcohol consumption is consistent with their blood alcohol concentration as determined in accordance with subsection 320.31(1) or (2) and with their having had, at the time when they were operating the conveyance, a blood alcohol concentration less than the blood alcohol concentration established under paragraph 320.38(c).

Question 19

Testing for presence of alcohol or drug
320.27 (1) If a peace officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that a person has alcohol or a drug in their body and that the person has, within the preceding three hours, operated a conveyance, the peace officer may, by demand, require the person to comply with the requirements of either or both of paragraphs (a) and (b) in the case of alcohol or with the requirements of either or both of paragraphs (a) and (c) in the case of a drug:

Answer 19

(a) to immediately perform the physical coordination tests prescribed by regulation and to accompany the peace officer for that purpose;
(b) to immediately provide the samples of breath that, in the peace officer’s opinion, are necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made by means of an approved screening device and to accompany the peace officer for that purpose;
(c) to immediately provide the samples of a bodily substance that, in the peace officer’s opinion, are necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made by means of approved drug screening equipment and to accompany the peace officer for that purpose.

Question 20

Marginal note:Mandatory alcohol screening

320.27(2) If a peace officer has in his or her possession an approved screening device, the peace officer may:

Answer 20

in the course of the lawful exercise of powers under an Act of Parliament or an Act of a provincial legislature or arising at common law, by demand, require the person who is operating a motor vehicle to immediately provide the samples of breath that, in the peace officer’s opinion, are necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made by means of that device and to accompany the peace officer for that purpose.

Question 21

320.28 (1) If a peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that a person has operated a conveyance while the person’s ability to operate it was impaired to any degree by alcohol or has committed an offence under paragraph 320.14(1)(b), the peace officer may, by demand made as soon as practicable,

Answer 21

(a) require the person to provide, as soon as practicable,
(i) the samples of breath that, in a qualified technician’s opinion, are necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made by means of an approved instrument, or
(ii) if the peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that, because of their physical condition, the person may be incapable of providing a sample of breath or it would be impracticable to take one, the samples of blood that, in the opinion of the qualified medical practitioner or qualified technician taking the samples, are necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made to determine the person’s blood alcohol concentration; and
(b) require the person to accompany the peace officer for the purpose of taking samples of that person’s breath or blood.

Question 22

Evaluation and samples of blood — drugs
(2) If a peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that a person has operated a conveyance while the person’s ability to operate it was impaired to any degree by a drug or by a combination of alcohol and a drug, or has committed an offence under paragraph 320.14(1)(c) or (d) or subsection 320.14(4), the peace officer may, by demand, made as soon as practicable, require the person to comply with the requirements of either or both of paragraphs (a) and (b):

Answer 22

(a) to submit, as soon as practicable, to an evaluation conducted by an evaluating officer to determine whether the person’s ability to operate a conveyance is impaired by a drug or by a combination of alcohol and a drug, and to accompany the peace officer for that purpose; or
(b) to provide, as soon as practicable, the samples of blood that, in the opinion of the qualified medical practitioner or qualified technician taking the samples, are necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made to determine the person’s blood drug concentration, or the person’s blood drug concentration and blood alcohol concentration, as the case may be, and to accompany the peace officer for that purpose.

Question 23

Samples of breath — alcohol

(3) An evaluating officer who has reasonable grounds to suspect that a person has alcohol in their body may:

Answer 23

if a demand was not made under subsection (1), by demand made as soon as practicable, require the person to provide, as soon as practicable, the samples of breath that, in a qualified technician’s opinion, are necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made by means of an approved instrument.

Question 24

Samples of bodily substances
(4) If, on completion of the evaluation, the evaluating officer has reasonable grounds to believe that one or more of the types of drugs set out in subsection (5) — or that a combination of alcohol and one or more of those types of drugs — is impairing the person’s ability to operate a conveyance, the evaluating officer shall identify the type or types of drugs in question and may, by demand made as soon as practicable, require the person to provide, as soon as practicable,

Answer 24

(a) a sample of oral fluid or urine that, in the evaluating officer’s opinion, is necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made to ascertain the presence in the person’s body of one or more of the types of drugs set out in subsection (5); or
(b) the samples of blood that, in the opinion of the qualified medical practitioner or qualified technician taking the samples, are necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made to ascertain the presence in the person’s body of one or more of the types of drugs set out in subsection (5) or to determine the person’s blood drug concentration for one or more of those types of drugs.

Question 25

Types of drugs

(5) For the purpose of subsection (4), the types of drugs are the following:

Answer 25

(a) a depressant;
(b) an inhalant;
(c) a dissociative anaesthetic;
(d) cannabis;
(e) a stimulant;
(f) a hallucinogen; or
(g) a narcotic analgesic.

Question 26

Condition

(6) A sample of blood may be taken from a person under this section only by:

Answer 26

a qualified medical practitioner or a qualified technician, and only if they are satisfied that taking the sample would not endanger the person’s health.

Question 27

Approved containers:

Answer 27

(7) A sample of blood shall be received into an approved container that shall be subsequently sealed.

Question 28

Retained sample:

Answer 28

8) A person who takes samples of blood under this section shall cause one of the samples to be retained for the purpose of analysis by or on behalf of the person from whom the blood samples were taken.

Question 29

Validity of analysis not affected:

Answer 29

9) A failure to comply with subsection (7) or (8) does not by itself affect the validity of the taking of the sample or of an analysis made of the sample.