7 years (Schedule I) / 3 years (Schedule III)
Hybrid offence under CDSA. Schedule I possession with a 7-year maximum creates inadmissibility under IRPA s.36(2). Cannabis possession has been legal in Canada since October 2018 (Cannabis Act): foreign cannabis possession convictions may no longer have a Canadian equivalent. Other drug possession remains grounds for inadmissibility.
Having a controlled drug on you without authorization. Schedule I substances carry up to 7 years and Schedule III up to 3, both below the serious criminality line but still enough to make a foreign national inadmissible. Cannabis is the exception, because possession has been legal in Canada since October 2018 and an old foreign conviction may no longer match any Canadian offence.
(1) Except as authorized under the regulations, no person shall possess a substance included in Schedule I, II or III. (2) No person shall seek or obtain (a) a substance included in Schedule I, II, III or IV, or (b) an authorization to obtain a substance included in Schedule I, II, III or IV from a practitioner, unless the person discloses to the practitioner particulars relating to the acquisition by the person of every substance in those Schedules, and of every authorization to obtain such substances, from any other practitioner within the preceding thirty days. (3) Every person who contravenes subsection (1) where the subject-matter of the offence is a substance included in Schedule I (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years; or (b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable (i) for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both, and (ii) for a subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both. (4) Subject to subsection (5), every person who contravenes subsection (1) where the subject-matter of the offence is a substance included in Schedule II (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years less a day; or (b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable (i) for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both, and (ii) for a subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both. (5) [Repealed, 2018, c. 16, s. 195] (6) Every person who contravenes subsection (1) where the subject-matter of the offence is a substance included in Schedule III (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years; or (b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable (i) for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both, and (ii) for a subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both. (7) Every person who contravenes subsection (2) (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable (i) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, where the subject-matter of the offence is a substance included in Schedule I, (ii) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years less a day, where the subject-matter of the offence is a substance included in Schedule II, (iii) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, where the subject-matter of the offence is a substance included in Schedule III, or (iv) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding eighteen months, where the subject-matter of the offence is a substance included in Schedule IV; or (b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable (i) for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both, and (ii) for a subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both. (8) [Repealed, 2018, c. 16, s. 195]