Ontario adds roadside licence suspensions and vehicle impoundments for dangerous driving, careless driving, and distracted driving by commercial vehicles

Plain-language summary · AI-assisted · not legal advice

A package of pending amendments to the Highway Traffic Act introduces several new enforcement tools, all awaiting proclamation. Police will gain authority to immediately suspend a driver's licence for 90 days and impound a vehicle for 7 days when there are reasonable grounds to believe the driver violated the Criminal Code's dangerous operation offence (new section 48.5); a separate appeal route to the Licence Appeal Tribunal will be available. Conviction for dangerous operation causing death will trigger an indefinite licence suspension under a new section, with early reinstatement possible after at least 25 years. Roadside administrative licence suspensions of 7 or 30 days will also apply to careless driving and careless driving causing bodily harm or death respectively, with no pre-suspension hearing. Fines for driving while suspended increase significantly for first and repeat offenders, and commercial motor vehicle operators caught using hand-held or display-screen devices face doubled fines and longer licence suspensions than other drivers. The short-term vehicle impoundment rules for driving while suspended are also being updated to escalate impoundment periods (14, 30, or 45 days) based on the owner's prior impoundment history, and a new Tribunal appeal route is added for those impoundments. Several CVOR-related amendments for commercial operators take effect July 1, 2026, allowing the Registrar broader authority to attach, vary, or remove certificate conditions.

Who this affects: all Ontario drivers · commercial motor vehicle operators and owners · drivers convicted of dangerous or careless driving · fleet operators holding CVOR certificates · vehicle owners whose cars may be impounded