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Criminal Code

s. 320.15 Failure or Refusal to Comply with Demand

Failure or refusal to comply with demand

  • Impaired Driving & Transportation
  • Impaired Driving
Maximum sentence
10 years (base) / 14 years (bodily harm) / life (death)
Classification
Hybrid

Last verified: June 2026 ยท Source: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca

The law says

Criminal Code s. 320.15
Verify on justice.gc.ca(opens in a new tab)
  • (1)Everyone commits an offence who, knowing that a demand has been made, fails or refuses to comply, without reasonable excuse, with a demand made under section 320.27 or 320.28.
  • (2)Everyone commits an offence who commits an offence under subsection (1) and who, at the time of the failure or refusal, knows that, or is reckless as to whether, they were involved in an accident that resulted in bodily harm to another person.
  • (3)Everyone commits an offence who commits an offence under subsection (1) and who, at the time of the failure or refusal, knows that, or is reckless as to whether, they were involved in an accident that resulted in the death of another person or in bodily harm to another person whose death ensues.
  • (4)A person who is convicted of an offence under this section is not to be convicted of another offence under this section with respect to the same transaction.
Amendment History (1)
  • 2018, c. 21, s. 15

Justice Laws is the authoritative version. If this copy and it ever differ, Justice Laws wins.

Immigration

Where this offence sits under IRPA

Refusing a breath sample is hybrid. It has the same top sentences as impaired driving itself, so with a 10-year maximum a conviction counts as serious criminality under IRPA s.36(1).

This is how the law sorts the offence, not a reading of any one record. An officer decides each case.

IRPA sections involved

Guides on offences like this one

No guide cites this section directly. These guides cite related offences.