RE. Road Safety Measures under the Making Ontario’s Roads Safer Act, 2015 and the Cannabis, Smoke-Free Ontario and Road Safety Statute Law Amendment Act, 2017.
Of particular note are the new zero tolerance measures for drivers of commercial vehicles.
Commercial vehicles are defined as:
- a vehicle requiring an A, B, C, D, E, or F licence to operate;
- a road building machine;
- a vehicle that requires a Commercial Vehicle Operator’s Registration (CVOR).
Drivers of commercial vehicles must have a blood alcohol concentration of zero when driving a commercial vehicle. Zero tolerance sanctions are currently in place, prohibiting drivers of commercial vehicles from having the presence of drugs and/or alcohol in their body, as detected by a federally approved oral fluid screening device or an approved alcohol breath screening device.
If a commercial driver has the presence of alcohol and/or drugs in their system, they will face serious penalties, including licence suspensions and administrative monetary penalties.
The penalties are:
| Licence suspension | Monetary penalty | Other penalties | |
| First occurrence | 3 days | $250* | Other penalties, such as mandatory education or treatment programs may also apply for repeat offenders |
| Second occurrence | 3 days | $350* | |
| Third and subsequent occurrences | 3 days | $450* |
* Monetary penalties are expected to take effect by January 2019, and will be in addition to the existing $198 licence reinstatement fee.
PLUS commercial drivers will be subject to mandatory remedial education or treatment programs; and, ignition interlock (II) requirements for repeat occurrences.
- 45, 90, or 180-day Vehicle Impoundment Program (VIP) rules will apply to all Criminal Code of Canada (CCC) related suspensions. The current appeal ground for impoundments of 45 days or longer will include drivers who were not subject to an II condition at the time of the VIP.
- There will be a single consistent authority in the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) to suspend a driver’s licence for failure to complete a prescribed remedial program and II condition on a licence after reinstatement from a CCC suspension.