Short Title
Criminal Code
Coming into Force
Explanatory Notes
First Session, Forty-second Parliament,
64-65 Elizabeth II, 2015-2016
SENATE OF CANADA
BILL S-230
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (drug-impaired driving)
FIRST READING, October 4, 2016
THE HONOURABLE SENATOR Carignan
4211610
SUMMARY
This enactment amends the Criminal Code to authorize the use of an approved screening device to detect the presence of drugs in the body of a person who was operating a vehicle or who had the care or control of a vehicle. It also authorizes the taking of samples of bodily substances to determine the concentration of drugs in a person’s body, based on physical coordination tests and the result of the analysis conducted using an approved screening device.
Available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address:
http://www.parl.gc.ca
1st Session, 42nd Parliament, 
64-65 Elizabeth II, 2015-2016
SENATE OF CANADA
BILL S-230
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (drug-impaired driving)
Preamble
Whereas the Commission on Narcotic Drugs of the United Nations, in its resolution 54/2 of March 2011, underscored the importance of prevention and enforcement measures to tackle the phenomenon of drug-impaired driving;
Whereas the Criminal Code does not currently allow peace officers to use roadside screening devices to detect efficiently the presence of drugs in impaired drivers;
Whereas roadside screening devices to detect drugs in impaired drivers have been used effectively in other countries, including Australia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States;
And whereas the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, in its resolution 2014-01 adopted at its 109th Annual Conference in August 2014, urged the Government of Canada to improve the safety of Canada’s roadways by approving a drug screening device to enhance investigation of drug-impaired driving;
Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
Short Title
Short Title
1 This Act may be cited as the Drug-Impaired Driving Detection Act.
R.‍S.‍, c. C-46
Criminal Code
2 (1) The definition approved screening device in subsection 254(1) of the Criminal Code is replaced by the following:
approved screening device means a device of a kind that is designed to ascertain the presence of alcohol or drugs in the blood of a person and that is approved for the purposes of this section by order of the Attorney General of Canada; (appareil de détection approuvé)
(2) Subsection 254(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Testing for presence of alcohol or a drug
(2) If a peace officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that a person has alcohol or a drug in their body and that the person has, within the preceding three hours, operated a motor vehicle or vessel, operated or assisted in the operation of an aircraft or railway equipment or had the care or control of a motor vehicle, a vessel, an aircraft or railway equipment, whether it was in motion or not, the peace officer may, by demand, require the person to comply with either or both of paragraphs (a) and (b) to enable the peace officer to determine whether a demand may be made under subsection (3), (3.‍1) or (3.‍4) :
(a) to perform forthwith physical coordination tests prescribed by regulation and, if necessary, to accompany the peace officer for that purpose; and
(b) to provide forthwith a sample of breath or oral fluid that, in the peace officer’s opinion, will enable a proper analysis to be made by means of an approved screening device and, if necessary, to accompany the peace officer for that purpose.
(3) Subsection 254(3.‍4) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Samples of bodily substances
(3.‍4) If a peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe, based either on the physical coordination tests provided for in paragraph 2(a) and the results of the analysis provided for in paragraph 2(b) or on the evaluation conducted under subsection (3.‍1), that the person’s ability to operate a motor vehicle, a vessel, an aircraft or railway equipment is impaired by a drug or by a combination of alcohol and a drug, the peace officer may, by demand made as soon as practicable, require the person to provide, as soon as practicable,
a) a sample of either oral fluid or urine that, in the peace officer’s opinion, will enable a proper analysis to be made to determine the concentration of drugs in the person’s blood; or
b) samples of blood that, in the opinion of the qualified medical practitioner or qualified technician taking the samples, will enable a proper analysis to be made to determine the concentration of drugs in the person’s blood.
Coming into Force
Six months after royal assent
3 This Act comes into force six months after the day on which it receives royal assent.
Published under authority of the Senate of Canada
EXPLANATORY NOTES
Criminal Code
Clause2: (1) Existing text of the definition:
approved screening device means a device of a kind that is designed to ascertain the presence of alcohol in the blood of a person and that is approved for the purposes of this section by order of the Attorney General of Canada; (appareil de détection approuvé)
(2) Existing text of subsection 254(2):
(2) If a peace officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that a person has alcohol or a drug in their body and that the person has, within the preceding three hours, operated a motor vehicle or vessel, operated or assisted in the operation of an aircraft or railway equipment or had the care or control of a motor vehicle, a vessel, an aircraft or railway equipment, whether it was in motion or not, the peace officer may, by demand, require the person to comply with paragraph (a), in the case of a drug, or with either or both of paragraphs (a) and (b), in the case of alcohol:
(a) to perform forthwith physical coordination tests prescribed by regulation to enable the peace officer to determine whether a demand may be made under subsection (3) or (3.‍1) and, if necessary, to accompany the peace officer for that purpose; and
(b) to provide forthwith a sample of breath that, in the peace officer’s opinion, will enable a proper analysis to be made by means of an approved screening device and, if necessary, to accompany the peace officer for that purpose.
(3) Existing text of subsection 254(3.‍4):
(3.‍4) If, on completion of the evaluation, the evaluating officer has reasonable grounds to believe, based on the evaluation, that the person’s ability to operate a motor vehicle, a vessel, an aircraft or railway equipment is impaired by a drug or by a combination of alcohol and a drug, the evaluating officer may, by demand made as soon as practicable, require the person to provide, as soon as practicable,
(a) a sample of either oral fluid or urine that, in the evaluating officer’s opinion, will enable a proper analysis to be made to determine whether the person has a drug in their body; or
(b) samples of blood that, in the opinion of the qualified medical practitioner or qualified technician taking the samples, will enable a proper analysis to be made to determine whether the person has a drug in their body.