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← Back to Law ExplorerLast verified: June 2026 · Source: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca
Impaired Driving & TransportationNot an offence
§320.22

Aggravating Circumstances for Sentencing

Aggravating circumstances for sentencing purposes

Impaired Driving
Maximum Sentence

N/A, sentencing provision listing aggravating circumstances

Classification: Not an offence
🍁 In Simple Terms

Not an offence either. This is the list of things that make a driving offence sentence worse: more than one person hurt or killed, street racing, a child under 16 in the vehicle, driving for pay, a blood alcohol level of 120 or more, a large vehicle, or driving while banned. It matters for immigration because longer sentences do: more than six months in prison turns a conviction into serious criminality.

Legal Text, Criminal Code s. 320.22

A court imposing a sentence for an offence under any of sections 320.13 to 320.18 shall consider, in addition to any other aggravating circumstances, the following: (a) the commission of the offence resulted in bodily harm to, or the death of, more than one person; (b) the offender was operating a motor vehicle in a race with at least one other motor vehicle or in a contest of speed, on a street, road or highway or in another public place; (c) a person under the age of 16 years was a passenger in the conveyance operated by the offender; (d) the offender was being remunerated for operating the conveyance; (e) the offender’s blood alcohol concentration at the time of committing the offence was equal to or exceeded 120 mg of alcohol in 100 mL of blood; (f) the offender was operating a large motor vehicle; and (g) the offender was not permitted, under a federal or provincial Act, to operate the conveyance.

Amendment History (1)
2018, c. 21, s. 15
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