Traffic tickets are not considered criminal offences. If a matter were criminal, it would fall under the Canadian Criminal Code, and reporting to the court would be mandatory. Traffic offences, governed by the Highway Traffic Act, typically affect your driver’s license and insurance rate. These offences are not criminal and rarely result in incarceration.
Many clients confuse traffic penalties with criminal charges, especially when faced with severe penalties like high fines or license suspensions. It’s essential to know the difference to avoid unnecessary worries.
Video Transcription:
A concerning question that many clients have asked: which traffic tickets are criminal offenses? The answer is none. Traffic tickets are not considered criminal. If this were a criminal matter, or if you were charged with something criminally, it would be found under the Canadian Criminal Code. And in those circumstances, you would automatically be required to report to the court.
And you would know that. Many good people, many great clients have been concerned with this particular fact and knowing the difference. It is an important difference because for many of these offenses, it really only affects your ability to drive or perhaps your insurance rate. Most of these offenses under the Highway Traffic Act, or the non criminal sphere of things, can only affect your driver’s license, or your ability to drive.
It’s a very limited number that is going to put you in a position where you might be exposed to a term of incarceration or jail. When people hear about that, or when highway traffic legislation has Stronger penalties like higher fines, license suspensions, or potential for a period of incarceration.
Clients get confused and automatically feel that this might be a criminal matter, and that is not true. I would suggest, if you’re not sure, we are. So, reach out to us, we will let you know if there’s something that you need to be concerned with here, and we will let you know immediately what you need to do about that.
And in most of these cases, there is something that we can do to help you.
