Commercial Driving After a DUI in Ontario
Zero tolerance applies whenever you are behind a commercial wheel, the fines are twenty times higher, and an interlock condition reaches the work vehicle too.
Eight categories · the whole journey
The Ontario DUI and interlock blog
Organised the way the process actually happens: from the roadside suspension, through the programme and the device, to the road test and the year after it. All eight category pages are live.
The blog
Every article, newest first
Is the Interlock Stream Worth It? The Real Numbers
Installing early costs money and shortens the suspension. What each side of that trade adds up to, using published Ontario fees rather than guesses.
What Facility Association Insurance Actually Is
The insurer of last resort in Ontario, explained without the scare stories. What it is, what it is not, and the questions worth putting to a broker.
Road Test Day Checklist for Ontario Drivers
What to bring, what the examiner checks before you drive, and the vehicle faults that end an Ontario road test in the car park before you turn a wheel.
Back on Track: Education or Treatment, and Who Decides
An 8-hour workshop or a 16-hour one. What puts you in each stream, how much longer treatment takes, and why you cannot simply pick the shorter option.
How to Blow Into an Ignition Interlock Properly
Most first attempts fail on technique, not alcohol. What the device is listening for, why a hard puff does not work, and how to practise before it matters.
Can You Drive Another Car During the Interlock Program?
The short answer is no, and it matters most on a road test. What the "I" condition permits, what it costs to ignore, and who else can be charged for it.
Warn Range vs Impaired: Two Different Suspensions
The warn range is 0.05 to 0.079, and it is not an impaired charge. What each one costs, and the one place the warn range still ends in an interlock.
Getting to Work Without a Licence in Ottawa
There is no work exemption from an Ontario suspension. What people actually do for the months in between, and the conversation worth having early.
What an Ignition Interlock Costs Per Month in Ontario
The recurring cost people forget when budgeting: the device lease, the MTO monthly fee, and the avoidable charges that push the total up.
Insurance and the Ontario Interlock Program: What to Know
What is separate from your policy, what a broker will ask for, and why a driving school should not be the one giving you insurance guidance.
Walkley vs Canotek: Ottawa DriveTest Centres Compared
The two Ottawa centres are not interchangeable. Which licence classes each handles, which one runs Saturday road tests, and how to choose between them.
The Back on Track Follow-Up Interview People Forget
Six months after the workshop, a thirty-minute interview. It sets the eleven-month timeline, and it is the step people assume they have already done.
Using an Ignition Interlock in an Ottawa Winter
At minus twenty the handset behaves differently. Warm-up routines, where to keep the unit overnight, and why January mornings need ten extra minutes.
Smart Start vs ALCOLOCK: Ontario Providers Compared
Ontario approves two ignition interlock providers. What is actually published about pricing and service locations, and what to ask before you sign a lease.
The 90-Day Roadside Suspension in Ontario, Explained
The administrative suspension applied at the roadside before any court date: how long it lasts, what it is not, and how it interacts with a later conviction.
Where you are in it
The eight categories, in order
Each one supports a long-form guide, so you can read the overview or go straight to the detailed version. Every figure is dated and sourced.
01
What just happened to my licence?
The two suspensions, why they run on different clocks, and the one number that decides whether you re-test.
Read this category 02How the programme actually works
The “I” condition, condition lengths, the 1 July 2026 changes, and what extends them.
Read this category 03Living with the device
Breath technique, rolling retests, lockouts, Ottawa winters and what really causes a false positive.
Read this category 04Back on Track, without the guesswork
Assessment, workshop, the six-month follow-up, and the fee everyone still gets wrong.
Read this category 05The road test, and who really needs one
Who pays when, what DriveTest checks, and the difference between your failure and the device’s.
Read this category 06Insurance after a conviction
What generally changes, and an honest statement of where a driving school stops being useful.
Read this category 07What this actually costs
Every published fee in one place, plus the avoidable ones that catch people out.
Read this category 08The part after the paperwork
Getting to work, rebuilding confidence after years off, and what we will never ask you.
Read this categoryThe long-form versions
Six pillar guides
Everything sourced to ontario.ca, drivetest.ca or remedial.net, and updated for the rule changes that took effect on 1 July 2026.
Start here
Getting your licence back
The full reinstatement roadmap, and when a road test is and is not required.
Read this The programmeOntario interlock program
Condition lengths, the July 2026 changes, violations, and how the “I” comes off.
Read this Road testRoad test with an “I” condition
What the examiner checks and what out-of-order costs.
Read thisThe eight categories in words
Start with DUI and licence suspension basics if you are at the beginning, then Ontario interlock program rules and using the interlock device day to day. Back on Track and remedial programs covers the mandatory part, and road test and reinstatement covers the end of it. Alongside those, insurance after a DUI, the real costs of a DUI in Ontario and life after a DUI.
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