Gocanna | Criminal Penalties

As of October 17th, 2018, a person making an offence under the Cannabis Act will be subject to penalties: This may include Provincial penalities, Federal penalties, or both.

Protecting youth

The Cannabis Act has several measures that help prevent youth from accessing cannabis. These include both age restrictions and restricting promotion of cannabis.

Age restrictions

No person may sell or provide cannabis to any person under the age of 18. The Act creates 2 new criminal offences, with maximum penalties of 14 years in jail, for:

giving or selling cannabis to youth
using a youth to commit a cannabis-related offence

Restricting promotion and enticement

Similar to the current restrictions on advertising for tobacco products, the Cannabis Act helps discourage youth cannabis use by prohibiting:

products that are appealing to youth
packaging or labelling cannabis in a way that makes it appealing to youth
selling cannabis through self-service displays or vending machines
promoting cannabis, except in narrow circumstances where young people could not see the promotion

Penalties for violating these prohibitions include a fine of up to $5 million or 3 years in jail. Click here for more information on Offence Penalties and Youth Protection >>

Impaired Driving Penalties

The proposed legislation would enact some new and higher mandatory minimum fines, and some higher maximum penalties.

Currently, the mandatory minimum penalties for impaired driving are:

First Offence: $1,000 mandatory minimum fine
Second Offence: mandatory 30 days imprisonment
Third Offence: mandatory 120 days imprisonment

The proposed legislation would increase the mandatory fines for first offenders with high blood alcohol concentration readings:

A first offender with a reading of 80 to 119 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood would be subject to the current mandatory minimum fine of $1,000
The mandatory minimum fine for a first offender with a reading of 120 to 159 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood would be raised to $1,500
The mandatory minimum fine for first offender with a reading of 160 mg or more of alcohol per 100 ml of blood or more would be raised to $2,000

A first offender who refuses testing would be subject to a $2,000 mandatory minimum fine.

Repeat Offenders:

Mandatory prison sentences for repeat offenders would stay the same as they are under the current law – 30 days for a second offence and 120 days for a subsequent offence
Maximum Penalties – no injury or death:
- The maximum penalties for impaired driving would be increased in cases where there is no injury or death, to two years less a day on summary conviction (up from 18 months), and to 10 years on indictment (up from 5 years). The latter would make a dangerous offender application possible in appropriate circumstances.

Offences causing bodily harm:

Offences causing bodily harm would become hybrid offences allowing the Crown to decide whether to proceed summarily where the injuries are less severe (for example, a broken arm). This will also help to address the issue of reducing court delays because summary conviction proceedings are simpler and take less time.

Maximum Penalties – dangerous driving:

The maximum penalty for dangerous driving causing death would be increased to life imprisonment (up from 14 years). This is consistent with the maximum penalty for other transportation offences involving death.

Click here for more information on Drug Impaired Driving penalties >>

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