Demerit Points

Demerit points are what the Ministry assess against you for traffic offences. There are many misconceptions and a lot of confusion surrounding demerit points. Here are some popular misconceptions and the truth about demerit points.

You don’t lose points, you accumulate them. This means that you start with 0.
Demerit Points stay on your record for 2 years retroactive to the offence date. This means that if a case took longer than 2 years to resolve, those points are recorded retroactively. They will have been on your record even if they are not anymore.
If you receive more than 1 ticket in a single stop and a couple of the tickets have demerit points (example: a stop sign offence and a seatbelt offence), you only receive points for the highest carrying ticket. In this example, it would be the stop sign. This means that you would get 3 points, not 5.
When you accumulate enough points, your license is suspended for 30 (60 days or 6 months for a subsequent suspension for NOVICE drivers) days. The time period starts from when you surrender your license. So if you waited 30 days to surrender your license, the suspension is for 60 days total.
If you accumulate enough tickets and have to attend an interview, you can still be suspended, or retested depending on how the interview goes.
For novice drivers (G1, G2, M1, M2), it takes 6 points for a possible interview and 9 points for a 60 day (6 month suspension for subsequent suspensions) suspension. For fully licensed drivers (G, M, GM), it takes 9 points for an interview and 15 for a 30 day suspension.
If you are suspended for the 30 days, your demerit point total is reduced to 7 when you are reinstated. If you were a novice driver suspended for 60 days, your demerit point total is reduced to 4.

Short Description	Demerit Points
Failing to remain at scene of accident	7
Driver failing to stop when signalled or requested to stop by a police officer	7
Careless driving	6
Racing	6
Exceeding speed limit by 50 km/h or more	6
Exceeding speed limit by 30 to 49 km/h	4
Exceeding speed limit by 16 to 29 km/h	3
Driver of public vehicle or school bus failing to stop at railway crossings	5
Driving through, around or under railway crossing barrier	3
Failing to yield center of way	3
Failing to obey a stop sign, signal light or railway crossing signal	3
Failing to obey directions of police constable	3
Driving or operating a vehicle on a closed highway	3
Failing to report an accident	3
Improper passing	3
Improper driving where highway divided into lanes	3
Failing to stop for school bus	6
Following too closely	4
Crowding driver's seat	3
Drive wrong way - divided highway	3
Cross divided highway - no proper crossing provided	3
Wrong way in one way street or highway	3
Backing on highway	2
Pedestrian crossover	2
Failing to share road	2
Improper center turn	2
Improper left turn	2
Failing to signal	2
Unnecessary slow driving	2
Failing to lower headlamp beam	2
Improper opening of vehicle door	2
Prohibited turns	2
Towing of persons on toboggans, bicycles, skis, etc., prohibited	2
Failing to obey signs prescribed by regulation under subsection 182 (1)	2
Driver failing to wear complete seat belt assembly	2
Driver failing to ensure passenger under 16 years wears complete seat belt assembly	2
Driver failing to ensure child passenger under 23 kilograms occupies position with seat belt assembly	2
Failing to slow down and proceed with caution when approaching stopped emergency vehicle	3
Failing to move into another lane when approaching stopped emergency vehicle - if safe to do	3

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