Cannabis and impaired driving in Canada, by the numbers

What the charges show

In the first year after legalization, police-reported drug-impaired driving rose sharply, up 43% in 2019. On its own that sounds alarming. But legalization arrived hand in hand with new enforcement tools: roadside oral-fluid screening devices and many more officers trained to spot drug impairment. More of the driving that was already happening started getting caught. Researchers who studied the jump concluded it was tied largely to that stepped-up enforcement, not a sudden wave of new stoned drivers.

The longer view backs that up. By 2023, Canada's overall impaired-driving rate was the lowest on record, with 71,602 incidents reported across all substances.

What drivers say they do

Surveys that ask people directly tell a steadier story. About 13.2% of cannabis users with a licence reported driving within two hours of using, which is essentially unchanged from before legalization in 2018. In other words, the share of users willing to drive too soon after using did not jump when the law changed. It was a problem before, and it remains one now.

Alcohol is still the bigger factor

For all the attention cannabis gets, alcohol remains the dominant impaired-driving danger. It is involved in roughly 70% of impaired-driving deaths and in far more injury crashes than drug-impairment alone. Any honest look at road safety in Canada still starts with alcohol.

So what does it add up to?

The data does not show the explosion in cannabis-impaired driving that some predicted. But that is not permission to drive high. Impairment is real whatever the statistics say, the law is strict, and the penalties are serious. If you have used cannabis, plan another way home. For the rules and the risks, see our full guide.

Sources & notes

The figures above come from Statistics Canada and published research. This page reports the data, it is not legal advice, and it does not change the fact that driving impaired is illegal. Always check the original source for the latest.

• Statistics Canada, Impaired driving in Canada The 43% rise in police-reported drug-impaired driving in 2019, and long-run impaired-driving rates.
• Statistics Canada, What has changed since cannabis was legalized? Self-reported driving within two hours of cannabis use (about 13%), little changed from before legalization.
• American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Police-reported impaired driving after cannabis legalization in Canada Analysis linking the rise in charges largely to expanded enforcement rather than a surge in impaired driving.
• Public Safety Canada, Trends and patterns in drug-impaired driving National data on drug-impaired driving, including the continued dominance of alcohol.