Charged with Impaired Driving in Toronto? What Happens Next
An impaired driving charge triggers an immediate licence suspension and a criminal court process that moves quickly. Here is what to expect in the first days and weeks — and why the disclosure matters more than the breath reading.
An impaired driving charge is frightening precisely because it happens so fast. One roadside stop, and within hours you have a criminal charge, a suspended licence, and a court date. The good news: impaired driving is also the most heavily litigated offence in Canada, and a careful review of the evidence frequently reveals a defence that is not obvious on the night of the arrest.
The first 24 hours
Most people charged with impaired driving in Toronto are released from the police station the same night, usually on an appearance notice or an undertaking. Before you leave, you will typically be handed several documents. Keep every one of them: a notice of the immediate licence suspension, a notice that your vehicle has been impounded, and a document telling you the date and courthouse for your first appearance — and often a separate date to attend for fingerprints and photographs. Missing either date is itself an offence, so put both in your calendar immediately.
The immediate consequences
In Ontario, an administrative licence suspension is automatic and immediate once an officer has grounds to believe you were over the legal limit, impaired, or refused a demand. For drivers over 0.08 or who refuse, the provincial rules impose an immediate 90-day licence suspension, a 7-day vehicle impoundment, a $550 administrative penalty, and mandatory education or treatment programming. This suspension is separate from the criminal case and takes effect before you have seen a courtroom. Driving during the suspension is a separate offence with its own serious penalties, so arrange other transportation for the full 90 days.
Getting your licence back
When the 90 days end, you must pay a licence reinstatement fee and complete the required program before you can drive again; depending on the circumstances, an ignition-interlock condition may also apply. It is important to understand that getting your licence back after the administrative suspension does not end the matter. If you are later convicted in criminal court, a separate Criminal Code driving prohibition — at least one year for a first offence — follows. For the full penalty picture, see our guide to a first DUI in Ontario.
Your first court date
Your first appearance is administrative — you are not expected to resolve anything that day. Before it, your lawyer requests disclosure: the full package of evidence the Crown intends to rely on, including the officer's notes, the breath-room video, the instrument's maintenance and calibration records, and the qualified technician's certificate.
Which Toronto courthouse will hear your case?
Impaired driving charges laid in Toronto are heard in the Ontario Court of Justice, at the Toronto Courthouse, 10 Armoury Street. Since February 2023 that building has replaced the former Old City Hall, College Park, North York and Scarborough court locations. If you are held for a bail hearing, it takes place at the Toronto Region Bail Centre, 2201 Finch Avenue West. The document you received at the station names the location. Your lawyer can usually attend the early appearances on your behalf, so you do not need to take time off work for each one.
A realistic timeline
The first appearance is usually several weeks after the charge. Disclosure often arrives in stages over the following weeks, after which your lawyer meets with the Crown in a pre-trial to discuss the evidence and any resolution. Contested cases are then scheduled for trial, often many months later. The Supreme Court of Canada has set a presumptive ceiling of 18 months for cases in the Ontario Court of Justice, after which unreasonable delay can lead to a stay of the charge. Our guide to the Ontario criminal court process walks through each stage.
Why the disclosure matters more than the reading
Most people assume the breath reading settles the case. It does not. Breath instruments must be operated by a qualified technician, within a specific time window, with proper calibration and sequencing. A defect in any of these can lead to the reading being excluded or its presumptions being defeated. Just as often, the defence lives in the stop itself — whether the officer had grounds to detain you, and whether your right to counsel under section 10(b) of the Charter was properly implemented.
The strongest impaired-driving defences are usually written into the disclosure — not argued from thin air on the night of the arrest.
What to bring to your first meeting with a lawyer
The more your lawyer sees early, the sooner the real issues come into focus. Bring every document the police gave you — the suspension and impound notices, your release papers, and any breath-test printouts or forms you received. Write a timeline of the evening while it is fresh: where you were, what and when you ate and drank, when you were stopped, what the officer said, when you were told about your right to a lawyer, and whether you were able to speak to one in private. Note any medical conditions, medications, or dental work, which can matter to breath testing. Finally, list anyone who was with you or saw you that night. Details that seem minor — a delay at the roadside, a rushed phone call to duty counsel, a long wait before the breath tests — are often exactly where a defence is found.
What you should do now
- Do not plead guilty at your first appearance. A first-offence conviction is still a criminal record with lasting immigration, employment, and insurance consequences.
- Write down everything you remember about the stop while it is fresh.
- Retain counsel early, so the disclosure request and any Charter issues are identified from the outset.
- If you were charged with refusing a breath test rather than with being over the limit, the defences are different — see our guide to refusing a breathalyzer in Ontario.
If you have been charged anywhere in the Greater Toronto Area, learn more about how Aaron M. Spektor defends impaired driving cases, or request a confidential consultation. The earlier we are involved, the more we can do.
Sources
Legally reviewed by Aaron M. Spektor, Barrister & Solicitor (LSO #51731A) · Editorial policy