In Alberta, a strict 7-day timeline is enforced to appeal the 15-month administrative suspension of your driver’s license. Within one week of your roadside stop, a Notice of Appeal with the Alberta Traffic Safety Board (ATSB) must be obtained, completed, and filed.
Critical Note: If the notice of appeal is not filed within 7 days of receiving the administrative penalty, your license will be automatically suspended for the full 15 months with no secondary avenue for recourse. You must also pay the mandatory application fee within this 7-day window.
Once the notice to review has been filed, the Alberta Transportation Board will provide a date for the review to be heard. This hearing typically takes place within 21 days from the notice of administrative penalty date (usually the date of your initial arrest). If exceptional circumstances prevented you from filing your paperwork on time, you may submit a specialized request for a late review to the Director of the Alberta Transportation and Safety Board, who will determine if your late claim can be legally reviewed. Our local Calgary IRS appeal lawyers manage these high-stakes timelines daily to protect our clients’ right to drive.
Bill 21, the Provincial Administrative Penalties Act, fundamentally transformed how impaired drivers are penalized in Alberta. The purpose of this Act is to utilize a simplified system to enforce administrative penalties rather than automatic criminal charges for specific impaired driving offences. Under this framework, peace officers in Calgary can issue immediate penalties through an online traffic system rather than processing first-time offenders through the criminal court system. Roulston Urquhart Criminal Defence remains at the forefront of these provincial developments to clearly explain your legal options.
The Provincial Administrative Penalties Act altered how law enforcement officers investigate impaired-driving offences. If you are operating or in care and control of a motor vehicle, an investigating officer can demand a roadside breath sample. Under Mandatory Alcohol Screening laws (s. 320.27(2) of the Criminal Code), an officer carrying an Approved Screening Device (ASD) can demand a breath sample immediately, without needing prior reasonable suspicion that you have been drinking.
You must comply with an officer’s lawful demand for a sample. If you refuse to cooperate without a valid medical diagnosis or reasonable excuse, you can be charged with a separate criminal offence of refusal to provide a breath sample (s. 320.15(1) of the Criminal Code).
If you register a “FAIL” on the ASD, it is legally presumed that your blood alcohol content exceeds the legal limit. If you are a first-time offender, you will receive an Immediate Roadside Sanction (IRS) rather than an immediate criminal charge. This includes:
- Alberta Administrative License Suspension (AALS): An immediate 15-month driver’s license suspension.
- Absolute Driving Prohibition: A total ban on driving for the first 3 months of the suspension.
- Financial Penalties: A $1,000.00 administrative fine, plus a $200.00 Victim Fine Surcharge.
- Vehicle Seizure: Immediate 30-day towing and impoundment of your vehicle.
- Ignition Interlock Mandatory Terms: To resume driving for the remaining 12 months of your suspension, installing an ignition interlock device is mandatory.
Offenders who commit serious offences—such as impaired driving causing bodily harm or causing death—as well as repeat offenders, face severe consequences. In these scenarios, the provincial administrative track is bypassed, and individuals are processed through the criminal court system at the Calgary Courts Centre.
- Second IRS Offence: You will face an immediate 90-day license suspension, a 30-day vehicle seizure, a fine of up to $2,000, and mandatory impaired driving education. Following the initial 90-day total suspension, you will be suspended for an additional 36 months, during which you must use an ignition interlock device to drive.
- Third or Subsequent IRS Offence: You will face an immediate 90-day suspension, a 30-day vehicle seizure, a fine of up to $2,000, and mandatory education courses. Following the initial 90 days, you will receive a lifetime driving suspension. You can only drive if an ignition interlock device remains permanently installed in your vehicle for the rest of your life.
This device is a vehicle-mounted breathalyzer linked directly to your car’s ignition system. To operate your vehicle, you must blow into the device and provide an alcohol-free breath sample. If the device detects alcohol, the vehicle will not start. All startup data and test results are logged and monitored directly by the Alberta Transportation Safety Board to ensure compliance.
Federal amendments introduced via Bill C-46 altered the legal terminology and enforcement metrics surrounding impaired driving across Canada, shifting the focus to the operation of a “conveyance” (which includes motor vehicles, vessels, aircraft, and railway equipment).
It is a criminal offence to operate or have care and control of a conveyance with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) equal to or greater than 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood (s. 320.14(1)(b)). Under the law, prosecutors do not need to prove your BAC was over the limit while you were driving. The Crown can secure a conviction if they establish that your BAC exceeded 80mg within two hours of the time you stopped driving.
Mandatory minimum criminal fines scale based on your exact blood alcohol readings:
- BAC between 80 and 119 mg: $1,000 fine and a criminal conviction.
- BAC between 120 and 159 mg: $1,500 fine and a criminal conviction.
- BAC of 160 mg and above: $2,000 fine and a criminal conviction.
- Refusing/Failing to provide a sample: $2,000 fine and a criminal conviction.
Police officers regularly investigate drug impairment based on driving patterns, overall demeanor, speech, or the odor of cannabis or other substances. If suspected, officers will demand a roadside physical coordination test.
This test must be administered by a certified Drug Recognition Expert (DRE)—a specialized member of law enforcement trained to evaluate your pulse, blood pressure, temperature, balance, and cognitive comprehension. Based on these physical coordination tests, officers can arrest you and demand a bodily fluid sample (blood, urine, or saliva) to test for illegal drug concentrations or combined drug-and-alcohol limits.
You can be issued an impaired driving penalty or a criminal charge even if the vehicle is parked and the engine is completely turned off. Under Canadian law, you can be deemed to have “care and control” of a vehicle if you are inside it and there is an inherent risk that the vehicle could be unintentionally or intentionally set in motion. The law presumes care and control if you are sitting in the driver’s seat. Defeating this legal presumption requires a detailed defense strategy. Our firm is highly experienced in defending complex care and control DUI cases in Calgary.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects all citizens from arbitrary detention and unlawful search and seizure. When law enforcement officers collect breath, blood, or saliva samples, they must adhere to strict constitutional rules. Your lawyer at Roulston Urquhart will determine whether the police had the required reasonable suspicion to demand a sample under the Criminal Code, and whether they facilitated your immediate right to legal counsel. If your Charter rights were violated, we can apply to have the breath or fluid samples excluded from evidence, significantly weakening the Crown’s case against you.
Technical defences often focus on the maintenance, calibration, and operating timelines of Approved Screening Devices and station-bound Intoxilyzer instruments. If the Calgary Police Service failed to administer the breath tests within the precise statutory timelines required by law, or if the device maintenance logs reveal calibration errors, those readings can be challenged and excluded from the record.
Under section 320.19(1) of the Criminal Code, the maximum penalty for an impaired driving conviction is 10 years imprisonment. This specific penalty ceiling classifies a DUI as an offence of “serious criminality” under section 36 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Immigration Alert: If you are in Canada as a Permanent Resident, Foreign National, or Visitor, a single criminal conviction for impaired driving can result in automatic inadmissibility, revocation of your status, and potential deportation from the country. Retaining an aggressive local defense attorney is crucial to protecting your legal status in Canada.
