On December 18, 2018, Canada will begin imposing tough new
penalties on those who drive while under the influence of alcohol
or drugs, including cannabis, or commit cannabis-related
crimes.
The maximum penalty for impaired driving offences will increase
from 5 years to 10 years. Impaired driving offences committed after
this date will be considered “serious criminality”. In
accordance with Canada’s immigration legislation, a
conviction could prevent foreign nationals from entering Canada and
lead to the loss of permanent residence, regardless of where the
offense occurred.
This particularly affects our neighbors to the south; a U.S.
Citizen with an impaired driving conviction will be deemed
inadmissible to Canada for serious criminality. There are ways to
temporarily overcome this inadmissibility, however it means that
every time the individual wishes to enter Canada, they will need to
prepare an application and apply for a Temporary Resident Permit
prior to
