BAC Limits in Canada

BAC limits by country: USA  ·  Canada  ·  Australia  ·  United Kingdom  ·  Ireland  ·  India

• Criminal (federal) 0.08%
• Warn range (most provinces) 0.05%
• Saskatchewan 0.04%
• Novice & young drivers 0.00%

Understanding the Table

Canada is unusual: the criminal limit is set federally, but every province and territory adds its own administrative sanctions below it.

• Warn Range — Provincial administrative threshold. At or above it you face an immediate roadside licence suspension and, in most provinces, vehicle impoundment — no court, no criminal record. Saskatchewan starts at 0.04%; Quebec and Yukon have no provincial warn range.
• Criminal — The federal Criminal Code limit of 0.08%. Applies identically in every province and territory: criminal record, minimum $1,000 fine, minimum 1-year driving prohibition.
• Novice / GDL — Zero tolerance (0.00%) for every learner and graduated-licence driver, in every jurisdiction, regardless of age.
• Young Driver Rule — Several provinces extend zero tolerance to young drivers regardless of licence class: under 22 in Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut; under 21 in New Brunswick.

All 10 Provinces & 3 Territories

Data based on statutes as of September 2026 (last legal-data review: 19 September 2026). Warn-range sanctions are administrative and vary by province; the criminal limit is federal.

Key Things to Know

0.05% Is the Real Limit

For practical purposes, 0.05% is the number that matters in Canada. Cross it and you lose your licence at the roadside — in Ontario for 7, 14 or 30 days depending on prior warn-range suspensions (tiers in force since 1 January 2026). Alcophone uses the warn range as your effective limit wherever one exists.

Quebec and Yukon: Federal Limit Only

Quebec has no provincial warn range — for a standard adult licence holder only the 0.08% criminal limit applies. Yukon’s Traffic Safety Act 2024 includes a 0.05% roadside sanction but it has not been proclaimed in force, so Alcophone applies 0.08% there until it is.

Saskatchewan Starts at 0.04%

Saskatchewan has the lowest warn range in the country: immediate roadside sanctions begin at 0.04%.

Cannabis Changes the Math

A combined reading of 0.05% BAC with 2.5 ng/mL THC is a Criminal Code offence on its own (s. 320.14(1)(d)) — even though each is below its individual limit.

Alcophone Has Your Province Built In

Select your province or territory and Alcophone applies the right threshold automatically — the warn range where one exists, and 0.00% if you tell the app you hold a novice licence or fall under a young-driver rule. If you enter your birth month and year, the app switches the young-driver rule off by itself on the day you age out of it.