One of the biggest fears we get when speaking to potential clients is “will I get a criminal record if I get convicted of my Drive Suspend charge?”. The good news, is that the answer is “no”, but the bad news is that the penalties are very similar to criminal charges. This is referred to as “quasi-criminal”. This is defined by the Attorney General site of Ontario as:

Quasi-Criminal Offence. A non-criminal offence that carries a penalty similar to that of a criminal offence, but that is subject to less complex court procedures than are criminal offences. For example traffic and workplace safety offences.

What Does a "quasi-criminal" conviction mean for me?

This means that, depending on the circumstances of your Drive Suspended charges, the prosecutor has the right to ask for harsh penalties like jail time or severe fines that sound a lot like criminal penalties. But, at the end of the day, they will not translate into a criminal record. Rather they are deterring penalties that will reside on your driving abstract.

Granted, having potential jail-time is a penalty that most do not want to endure regardless of where it appears on your record. Drive Suspend charges that entail jail time, still send you to the same jails that persons with criminal charges are sent.

Similarly, high fines are still painful to your financial well-being, regardless of whether they are traffic or criminal penalties.

What Can Drive Suspend legal representation do for me?

When we represent a client, we treat the penalties just as serious as a criminal proceeding, even if they don’t result in a criminal record. Our only job is to fight against these penalties in relation to your Drive Suspend charges. After all, these are major civil liberties that are at stake.

https://youtu.be/jfjuQuGoT90 https://www.nextlaw.ca/2020/10/07/is-driving-under-suspension-a-criminal-charge/