It’s time of year again, where Canadians get their motorcycles out … and a few days later, the news is filled with stories of misadventures with Johnny Law. Road rage arrests! Loud pipes tickets! And, in recent years, stunting seizures!
Once upon a time, no matter how stupid your behaviour on the public roads, you could almost always see yourself home after you were caught. Now, in several Canadian provinces, police can suspend your drivers licence for a week or even more, hand out fines of thousands of dollars, and even impound your motorcycle.
Some of these provinces could consider something as innocuous as standing on the pegs while riding as stunting—something adventure bike riders do regularly. Several provinces also take a dim view of wheelies, or even rear wheelspin. Here’s a west-to-east look at our country’s stunting laws, and penalties:
British Columbia
Lawmakers in BC aren’t fooling around—a mild wheelie can get you charged with stunting, and see your motorcycle seized. As per the Motor Vehicle Act:
“stunt” means circumstances in which, taking into account the condition of the highway, traffic, visibility and weather, the driver or operator of a motor vehicle is driving or operating the motor vehicle without reasonable consideration for other persons using the highway or in a manner that is likely to cause harm to an individual or likely to distract, startle or interfere with users of the highway by doing any of the following:
(a) causing any or all of the motor vehicle’s tires to lift from the road surface;
(b) causing the motor vehicle to lose traction while turning the motor vehicle;
(c) driving the motor vehicle in a manner to cause the motor vehicle to spin;
(d) driving the motor vehicle in a lane intended for oncoming traffic for longer than necessary to pass another vehicle;
(e) slowing or stopping the motor vehicle in a manner that prevents other motor vehicles from passing or in a manner that blocks or impedes other motor vehicles;
(f) without justification, driving as close as possible to another motor vehicle, a pedestrian, or a fixed object.
So, don’t be drifting your supermoto slideways either, or pulling a rolling burnout. Those are all considered stunting, and the Motor Vehicle Act says a police officer must “cause the motor vehicle to be taken to and impounded at a place directed by the peace officer.” if they’re planning to charge you with a criminal offence as a result. The first time you have a vehicle impounded, it’s locked up for seven days. It can be 30 days if your ride is impounded a second time within two years, and 60 days if impounded a third time.
BC is even tougher on street racers—the Crown has the authority to seize your vehicle if they wish, in those cases, under the Civil Forfeiture Act.
Alberta
Stunting is more of a catch-all term in Alberta. Officially, Alberta’s Traffic Act (Section 115 [2] f) says stunting is when you “perform or engage in any stunt or other activity on a roadway that is likely to distract, startle, or interfere with other users of the roadway.” Based on previous police action, this apparently includes yelling at other motorists or flipping the bird, etc., so don’t do that when you’re out riding, and don’t let your pillion do it either—passengers can also get stunting tickets in Alberta!
Penalties in this case do not include motorcycle seizure, far as we can tell from the Traffic Act, but you get a mandatory court appearance. Depending how that goes, you can get a fine for up to $2,700, get three demerit points on your licence and even a 90-day suspension, or even go to jail for weeks or months. This seems unlikely for something like a wheelie, but given the broad language of this law, it’s one you do not want to run afoul of.
Saskatchewan
Like most provinces, Saskatchewan lumps stunt driving in with racing. New, tough laws came into place late in 2022 that see fines rise from $150 to $580 for stunt driving. As per the update posted on September 30, 2022, stunting can include wheelies, lost of wheel traction, doing donuts, riding two-abreast, not sitting on your vehicle’s seat, and a lot of other stuff you’d probably never consider as stunting. See the whole list here, starting on Page 513 (5 of 12 in the document).
Before these changes, offenders could see their vehicle impounded for three days after a second stunting conviction. Along with the heavy new fines, Saskatchewan also plans a further crackdown here. As per the provincial insurance body, “The second phase of the legislation change, which will be introduced at a later date, will implement both 30-day vehicle impoundments and immediate seven-day licence suspensions for stunting, racing and exceeding the speed limit by more than 50 km/h or by more than double the posted limit.”
Manitoba
Manitoba doesn’t have stunt driving laws, at least not under that name. Many of those same laws exist, they just have different names. For instance: In Manitoba, riders are supposed to keep their butts on the bike’s seat. No standing on the pegs, GS riders!
Aside from that, the behaviours called “stunt driving” in other provinces probably fall under the “careless driving” laws in Manitoba. The provincial traffic laws say that to “drive carelessly” means “to drive or driving a vehicle on a highway without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the highway.” This can bring a fine as high as $5,000, and licence suspension of up to a year. No bike seizure, though—see more here.
Ontario
Ontario has stunting laws even more strict than British Columbia’s. See the official explanation of stunt driving here. Basically, the laws are in line with Saskatchewan and BC: Wheelies, spinning your tires, donuts, riding two abreast, not sitting on your bike’s seat and several other similar behaviours are all banned.
Most significantly, Ontario says speeding 50 km/h or more over the limit is also stunt driving. If the speed limit is less than 80 km/h, that drops to speeding 40 over. In other provinces, that could see you with an expensive ticket. In Ontario it could get the police on your case big-time, thanks to 2021’s MOMS Act. If caught, you’ll have a 30-day licence suspension and 14-day vehicle impoundment, and a minimum fine of $2,000. That fine can be as high as $10,000, and you’ll also get 6 demerit points on your licence.
You really, really don’t want to get busted for stunt driving in Ontario.
Quebec
La Belle Province doesn’t have stunt driving regulations, per se. It does have very strict laws against excessive speed and street racing, both of which are usually tied closely to anti-stunting laws. According to the provincial government’s website, excessive speeding is :
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- 40 km/h or more in a zone where the speed limit is 60 km/h or less
- 50 km/h or more in a zone where the speed limit is over 60 km/h and up to 90 km/h
- 60 km/h or more in a zone where the speed limit is 100 km/h or over
If you’re caught, your licence is suspended for seven days. If convicted in court, you rack up demerits, huge fines, and the cost of your drivers’ licence even increases—and there’s a ding on your driving record for a decade. If you’re caught again for the same offence in that time period, the penalties get even worse. See a run-down here, but be warned, it’s grim!
The anti-racing laws are similarly tough. Your licence is immediately suspended even if you only lent your bike to someone else who went racing on it. If convicted in court, you’ll pay a fine from $1,000 to $3,000, and get 12 demerit points on your driving record. More details here.
New Brunswick
New Brunswick currently has no anti-stunting laws on the books, although the provincial government says it is working on introducing them. You can read the government’s official line here. Here’s the important part:
“As it stands, the penalties for driving 50 km/h over the speed limit are the same as driving 85 km/h over the speed limit: a $500 fine and five demerit points.
The amendments would create two new categories: driving 50-80 km/h over the speed limit and driving more than 80 km/h over the speed limit.
Anyone caught driving between 50-80 km/h over the speed limit would have their vehicle impounded for seven days, in addition to the current penalties of a $500 fine and five points off their licence.
Anyone caught driving more than 80 km/h over the speed limit would have their vehicle impounded for 30 days, be fined $1,000 and lose six points off their licence.”
Otherwise, police might nab you under Section 346 of the Motor Vehicle Act, calling it Driving Without Due Care. Right now, that’s only a $172.50 fine and three points off your licence. A clever traffic officer could probably figure out more tickets and other ways to make your life miserable, though, so it’s best to avoid the situation altogether!
Prince Edward Island
The province with the lowest speed limits in Canada recently introduced some of the harshest anti-speeding laws. These are not officially designated as stunt driving at this point, but if you’re caught going 50-59 km/h over the limit, you’re fined $8 for every klick over the limit, you get six demerit points on your licence, and your vehicle is impounded for seven days.
It ramps up from there. If you’re caught going 60-79 km/h over the limit, your fine is $10 for every klick over the limit, and you get nine demerit points. Your vehicle is impounded for seven days.
If you’re caught 80 km/h or more over the speed limit, you’re fined $25 for every klick over the limit, you get 12 demerits on your licence (which can mean a three-month driving suspension) and your vehicle is impounded for 30 days.
Just to round it all out, if the police catch you going more than double the speed limit, your vehicle will be impounded for 30 days, even if you aren’t 80 over. Your fine will be based on the amount of km/h you’re exceeding the limit.
Obviously, they aren’t fooling around. As for the narrow definition of stunting the Highway Traffic Act mentions wheelies, wheelspin, and the other usual suspects (link here). Although the Act itself doesn’t seem to specify the financial penalties for stunting, it seems the damage starts with nine points against your drivers licence.
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia’s motorists appear to have developed Fast & Furious tendencies before the rest of their east coast counterparts, as the province put anti-stunting laws on the books before its neighbours did. You don’t want to be caught doing 50 km/h over the speed limit in Canada’s Ocean Playground, because the police can slap you with a $2,450 fine, six demerit points on your licence and a seven-day licence suspension. Of course, repeat offences ramp up the punishment.
You can see Nova Scotia’s full definitions of stunting here. It’s basically the same as the other hard-core provinces: No wheelies, no donuts, and so on. And while the Maritimes are often noted for their, uh, less-than-strict traffic enforcement, note that Nova Scotia does hand these penalties out. If you have a need, a need for speed, the Bluenoser government wants you to take it to the track.
Newfoundland
Newfoundland is truly the Promised Land for the Canadian speed junkie, as the province hosts the Targa Rally on public roads. However, outside that event, the lawmakers take a dim view of throttle therapy. Even racing a bicycle on a highway is considered racing, which would probably land most pre-teens with a 10-speed in jail.
Stunt driving is very loosely defined as “performing or engaging in a stunt or activity that is likely to distract, startle or interfere with users of the highway.” It brings a seven-day licence suspension that starts the second day after the notice of suspension is given.
Although it’s not under the same section of the Highway Traffic Act, the province does allow licence suspension for excessive speeding. If you’re nabbed 51 km/h or more over the limit, you get a seven-day licence suspension starting the second day after the notice is given, same as stunt driving.
Title photo—Credit: Jackwagonboy/CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=131150759
Here in BC when your bike is impounded t goes to a privately owned tow yard so you have to pay them their going rate for towing, distance charges apply and daily storage charges. That can add up to an extra thousand over your ticket cost pretty quickly.
Let’s not forget too – the likelihood of getting extra tickets added to an offence (driving dirty – no licence, no insurance, illegal/stole/expired plates) go hand in hand with a lot of these activities. Enter at your own risk !
Is New Brunswick really the opposite of EVERYwhere else in the world when it comes to demerit points, or was “the government’s official line” just written by a typical fat, lazy, incompetent tax-payer-teat sucker?
I believe they do it differently, to the same effect.