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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 entering Canada. This application can be made at a port of
entry (Canadian land border or airport customs) upon arrival in
Canada, or prior to travel by submitting an application to the
Canadian Visa Office in Los Angeles, California. Current processing
times range between 6-12 months for Visa Office applications and
multiple-entry Temporary Resident Permits are available but it is
at the discretion of the immigration officer, so trips should be
planned well in advance.
Currently, a foreign national with a foreign impaired driving
conviction is eligible for deemed rehabilitation at a port of entry
to permanently overcome this inadmissibility, if ten years has
passed since the completion of their sentence. For an impaired
driving conviction after December 18, 2018 deemed rehabilitation
will not be possible and an applicant will have to make a fulsome
application for rehabilitation in accordance with the
legislation.
Those who have received approval to overcome a criminal
inadmissibility at the port of entry prior to December 18, 2018,
will not be affected by these changes. Therefore it is recommended
that if you are able to make such an application, you do so prior
to the changes coming into effect.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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