What just happened to my licence?

DUI licence suspension in Ontario: two clocks, not one

The confusion at the start is almost always the same. An administrative suspension is applied immediately, at the roadside, by the province — it is not a punishment handed down by a court and it does not wait for one. A criminal conviction, if it comes, brings its own suspension on top, and that is the one measured in years.

They are separate systems with separate rules, separate reinstatement requirements and separate paperwork. Reading about one when you are in the other is why so much of what people find online does not match their situation.

Which one you are in changes almost everything

It decides how long you are off the road, whether Back on Track applies in full or in part, how long any interlock condition lasts, and whether you will ever sit a road test again.

• Administrative suspensions. Three or more in ten years brings a minimum six-month interlock condition. Back on Track is a workshop only — no assessment, no six-month follow-up — and the timeline is measured in weeks.
• A Criminal Code conviction. Minimum one year off the road for a first offence, all three parts of Back on Track, and an interlock condition of a year or more.

The question underneath all the others

Almost everyone arriving here eventually asks the same thing: will I have to take a driving test again? The answer has nothing to do with the offence and everything to do with a single number — how long your full class licence was invalid.

Under three years is an eye test and nothing more. Three to ten years means a knowledge test, an eye test and two road tests. Over ten and you reapply as a new driver. A first conviction carries a one-year minimum, which lands in the first band, so most first-time offenders never sit a road test at all.

What we can and cannot help with

We are a driving school. We cannot advise you on a charge, we have no role in your suspension, and we do not install interlock devices. What we do is teach the device and rent an interlock-equipped car for a road test, if you turn out to need one.

If you are at the very beginning of this, the reinstatement roadmap is the page to read.

Read the long-form version in getting your licence back, in order. If a road test is part of your route back, we cover interlock car rental for a G2 or G road test and the ten-hour interlock training course. Related reading: Ontario interlock program rules and Back on Track and remedial measures in Ontario, or browse every Ontario DUI licence recovery article.