Skip to main content

Criminal Code

s. 320.16 Failure to Stop After Accident

Failure to stop after accident

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

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

The law says

Criminal Code s. 320.16
Verify on justice.gc.ca(opens in a new tab)
  • (1)Everyone commits an offence who operates a conveyance and who at the time of operating the conveyance knows that, or is reckless as to whether, the conveyance has been involved in an accident with a person or another conveyance and who fails, without reasonable excuse, to stop the conveyance, give their name and address and, if any person has been injured or appears to require assistance, offer assistance.
  • (2)Everyone commits an offence who commits an offence under subsection (1) and who at the time of committing the offence knows that, or is reckless as to whether, the accident 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 committing the offence, knows that, or is reckless as to whether, the accident resulted in the death of another person or in bodily harm to another person whose death ensues.
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

A driver in a crash must stop, give a name and address, and offer help to anyone hurt. Failing to do so is hybrid. Even with no injury, the top sentence is 10 years (s.320.19(5)). With an injury it is 14 years (s.320.2). IRPA s.36(3)(a) treats both as indictable on either track. So a conviction is serious criminality under IRPA s.36(1), not the lesser ground in s.36(2). The death version (s.320.16(3)) has its own penalty section, which this page does not hold.

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.

Reckless Driving Conviction Entry to CanadaUS Misdemeanor Entry to CanadaCan You Enter Canada with a DUI?

Related sections

Criminal Code s. 320.13Dangerous OperationHybridCriminal Code s. 320.14Operation While ImpairedHybrid