Life imprisonment (Schedule I/II) / 10 years (Schedule III)
Drug trafficking is serious criminality under IRPA s.36(1) for Schedule I/II substances (life maximum) and Schedule III (10-year maximum). Deemed rehabilitation is generally NOT available for trafficking offences. Criminal rehabilitation application is the only pathway. Cannabis trafficking remains illegal despite legalization of possession.
Selling or handing over controlled drugs, including passing pills to a friend for free. Schedule I and II substances carry life imprisonment and Schedule III carries 10 years, so every version is serious criminality. Waiting out the years does not help with trafficking, which leaves a criminal rehabilitation application as the usual route.
(1) No person shall traffic in a substance included in Schedule I, II, III, IV or V or in any substance represented or held out by that person to be such a substance. (2) No person shall, for the purpose of trafficking, possess a substance included in Schedule I, II, III, IV or V. (3) Every person who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) (a) if the subject matter of the offence is a substance included in Schedule I or II, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life; (a.1) [Repealed, 2018, c. 16, s. 196] (b) if the subject matter of the offence is a substance included in Schedule III or V, (i) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or (ii) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding eighteen months; and (c) where the subject-matter of the offence is a substance included in Schedule IV, (i) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or (ii) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year. (4) [Repealed, 2012, c. 1, s. 39] (5) For the purposes of applying subsection (3) in respect of an offence under subsection (1), a reference to a substance included in Schedule I, II, III, IV or V includes a reference to any substance represented or held out to be a substance included in that Schedule. (6) [Repealed, 2018, c. 16, s. 196]