Statement on behalf of Minister Goodale’s office.
Drug impaired driving is a real problem. It is a major contributor to fatal road crashes and has been
increasing year-a er-year. The percentage of Canadian drivers fatally injured in vehicle crashes who
test posi ve for drugs (40%) now exceeds that of drivers who test posi ve for alcohol (33.3%).
In 2008, to strengthen enforcement of drug impaired driving, the Government enacted the
Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFST) and Drug Recogni on Expert (DRE) provisions. This was in
response to scien fic evidence that indicated that the SFST and DRE protocols produce valid and
reliable informa on as to impairment by drug use. These provisions have resulted in a significant
increase in drug-impaired driving convic ons.
The 2012 MADD study noted that:
“Studies indicate that DRE is highly accurate in iden fying the class of drugs that is present in a
suspect’s body, but research is lacking in terms of whether it correlates well with impairment of
driving skills.”
To that end, in April 2017 the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse undertook a review of a series of
studies on the effec veness of the DRE Program. It concluded by sta ng:
“Together, the research provides strong evidence that the signs and symptoms assessed using the
12-step DEC protocol provide a valid and reliable evalua on of impairment as a result of drug use.”
Inves ng further in SFST and DRE training and research is a cri cal piece of the government’s
strategy to address drug-impaired driving.
However, the Government recognizes that although these measures are beneficial, more needs to be
done. This is why the Government introduced Bill C-46. As MADD recommended in its 2012 report,
this Bill proposes to strengthen the exis ng criminal law measures to address drug-impaired driving
by authorizing the use of oral fluid drug screening devices at the roadside and enac ng three new
legal drug limit offence of being “over a legal drug limit” within two hours of driving, which can be
established using blood samples (if a screening device or SFST establishes reasonable grounds to
believe an offence has been commi ed).
The Government has received scien fic advice provided by the Drugs and Driving Commi ee (DDC)
(comprised of dedicated volunteer scien sts of the Canadian Society of Forensic Science) that oral
fluid drug screeners are fast, non-invasive, and highly accurate in detec ng recent consump on of
certain drugs, including THC. Before a drug screener would be approved for use, it would be
recommended by the DDC a er being evaluated against a set of rigorous evalua on standards to
ensure it is suitable to be used by law enforcement. The evalua on standards were recently
published by the DDC, and the Government has invited all manufacturers of oral fluid drug screening
devices to submit their devices for tes ng.
The government is inves ng $274 million to enforce the new cannabis regime and to support law
enforcement and border efforts to detect and deter drug-impaired driving. This includes funding for

 training frontline officers in how to recognize the signs and symptoms of impaired driving—
increasing the number of SFST and DRE trained officers—and deploying roadside screening devices. It
also includes funding for research on cannabis impairment, both as it relates to per se levels and to
SFST and DRE. This is a responsible use of public funds to protect the safety of Canadians.