Dispute a Notice of Administrative Penalty in Alberta

If you were handed a Notice of Administrative Penalty (NAP) at the roadside, the clock is already running. You have 7 days to request a SafeRoads Alberta review, and an IRS FAIL carries a 90-day driving ban, a further 12 months on an ignition interlock, a 30-day vehicle seizure and a $1,200 bill. There is no court date and no second chance to file.

Our Alberta Notice of Administrative Penalty dispute lawyers file the review, obtain the officer’s records and argue the grounds for cancellation in writing or at an oral hearing. We are the first firm to take an Immediate Roadside Sanctions case to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Reviews are handled virtually from Calgary and Edmonton for drivers anywhere in Alberta. Call 403-719-6410 today.

What is a Notice of Administrative Penalty?

A Notice of Administrative Penalty is the document a peace officer serves on you when an Immediate Roadside Sanction (IRS) is imposed under the Traffic Safety Act. Since December 1, 2020, the Provincial Administrative Penalties Act has moved most Alberta impaired driving cases out of criminal court and into this administrative system, run by SafeRoads Alberta. The NAP sets out the sanction, the suspension and the fine, and the licence suspension starts the moment it is served.

What has to be proven in a SafeRoads review?

A SafeRoads review is not a trial. Under section 7(1) of the Provincial Administrative Penalties Act you must file your request for review within 7 days after the NAP is issued and pay the review fee. An adjudicator then decides the review on the Director’s records and your submissions. The burden sits with you: you must prove, on a balance of probabilities, a ground for cancellation, such as that the officer lacked the grounds the section requires, that you were not told of your right to a second roadside test under section 88.11, or that the NAP does not meet the legislative requirements. The Director does not have to prove the contravention beyond a reasonable doubt, but the officer’s report, screening device records and any recordings must actually support the sanction. Where they do not, the adjudicator must cancel the NAP.

Types of Immediate Roadside Sanctions in Alberta

IRS FAIL (Traffic Safety Act s. 88.1)

Issued when a peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe you drove while impaired to any degree by alcohol or a drug, had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, failed a drug recognition evaluation, or failed or refused without reasonable excuse to comply with a demand under section 320.27 or 320.28 of the Criminal Code. First occurrence: 90-day suspension, then 12 months in the ignition interlock program, 30-day vehicle seizure, $1,000 fine plus 20 per cent victim fine surcharge, Planning Ahead course. Second: 36 months on interlock and a $2,000 fine. Third: lifetime suspension with interlock and a $2,000 fine.

IRS WARN (s. 88.03)

Issued when your blood alcohol concentration is between 0.05 and 0.079 or you fail a roadside sobriety test. First occurrence: 3-day suspension, 3-day vehicle seizure, $300 fine plus surcharge. Second: 15-day suspension, 7-day seizure, $600 fine and the Crossroads course. Third: 30-day suspension, 7-day seizure, $1,200 fine and the IMPACT program.

IRS ZERO Novice (s. 88.01)

Zero tolerance for alcohol or drugs for Class 7 learners and Class 5-GDL drivers. 30-day suspension, 7-day vehicle seizure, $200 fine plus surcharge.

IRS ZERO Commercial (s. 88.02)

Zero tolerance while operating a commercial vehicle. First occurrence: 3-day suspension and $300 fine. Second: 15 days and $600. Third: 30 days and $1,200, each plus surcharge.

IRS 24-Hour (s. 88)

A 24-hour suspension where the officer reasonably suspects alcohol, a drug or a medical condition is affecting your ability to drive. No fine, but a medical 24-hour can trigger a fitness-to-drive review.

Penalties at a glance (source: alberta.ca, Impaired driving penalties):

None of these sanctions is a criminal conviction, but every one of them goes on your driving abstract. If police also lay a Criminal Code charge, our impaired driving lawyers defend both files together.

How to dispute a Notice of Administrative Penalty in Alberta

The Provincial Administrative Penalties Act sets the process. Your request for review must be filed within 7 days of the NAP being issued, with only rare exceptions (usually medical). You choose a written review or an oral review, SafeRoads discloses the officer’s records, and we file your submissions and evidence through the SafeRoads portal. You do not attend court. The decision is issued in writing within 30 days of the NAP.

What most drivers get wrong in a SafeRoads review

Most people argue that they were not impaired. That rarely works, because the adjudicator decides on the records, not on a retelling of the night. The cases that get cancelled are won on what the records do and do not show: the officer’s report must record the grounds the section requires, the second-test advice, the device used and its results, and the Director must disclose the recordings that exist. Smit v Alberta (Director of SafeRoads), 2023 ABKB 435, confirms that fairness requires the Director to provide existing police audio and video or state that none exists. We read every page of disclosure before we write a word of argument. Call 403-719-6410 before you file anything on the portal.

Notice of Administrative Penalty Dispute Defences

The grounds that apply depend on the facts that led to the NAP. These are the five we argue most often.

Invalidity of the Notice of Administrative Penalty

The first issue an adjudicator decides is whether a valid NAP was served. Section 6 of the Provincial Administrative Penalties Act requires the notice to be in the prescribed form and to contain the prescribed content. In practice the adjudicator checks that the notice:

1. Identifies you clearly;
2. Specifies the right contravention;
3. States the correct date of occurrence; and
4. States the place (or near where) the contravention occurred.

No Proper Disclosure

When you request a review, the Director of SafeRoads Alberta must provide the records relating to the issuance of the NAP. Section 2 of the SafeRoads Alberta Regulation lists the records the Director must provide, including:

1. A copy of the NAP;
2. The report of the officer who issued the NAP (police notes or a typed report);
3. Calibration and maintenance records of the device or instrument used to test your breath, urine or blood sample; and
4. Any other relevant records, which after Smit includes existing in-car and body-worn recordings.

No Roadside Appeal or Second Test (s. 88.11)

You have the right to a roadside appeal: a second breath sample into a different approved screening device, even if the NAP was issued without a first test. Providing the sample is voluntary; telling you about the right is mandatory. A failure to advise you of the right, or a failure to meaningfully administer the second test, is a ground for cancellation.

Insufficient Evidence to Establish Impairment

For an impairment-based IRS FAIL the officer’s report must record enough to show impairment. The onus to record the signs is on the police. Reports often lack detail.

Signs of impairment an officer is expected to record include:

• Slurred speech;
• Poor balance;
• Red, glassy or glossy eyes;
• Flushed face;
• Disorientation or confusion;
• Poor hand-eye coordination; or
• A driving pattern consistent with impairment.

Where the report does not record them, the adjudicator should conclude there is insufficient evidence to justify the sanction.

Mouth Alcohol in Relation to ASD Results

In some cases mouth alcohol, not blood alcohol, produced the FAIL reading. You must establish it with evidence of the volume and timing of consumption and the surrounding circumstances, such as having just left a bar or having open alcohol in the vehicle. It is a difficult ground, but the materials before the adjudicator set clear requirements for proper test administration, and a breach of them matters.

Consequences of a Notice of Administrative Penalty

SafeRoads fines run from $300 for a first IRS WARN to $2,000 for a second or later IRS FAIL, each plus a 20 per cent victim fine surcharge. An IRS WARN (0.05 to 0.079) costs $300 on a first occurrence; an IRS FAIL (0.08 or more, impairment, or refusal) costs $1,000 the first time and $2,000 every time after.

Beyond the fine, a NAP brings:

• A licence suspension of 3 to 90 days, followed on an IRS FAIL by 12 months to life on an ignition interlock;
• A vehicle seizure of 3 to 30 days, with towing and storage charged to you;
• Mandatory courses: Planning Ahead, Crossroads or the IMPACT program;
• An entry on your driver’s abstract that insurers read as an impaired driving occurrence, so premiums rise for years;
• Loss of work for anyone who drives for a living, including Class 1 to 4 licence holders and commercial drivers under IRS ZERO;
• A record that can surface on employer abstract checks even though it is not a criminal conviction and does not, on its own, create immigration or travel consequences.

If you request a review and lose, the $50 review fee is forfeited. If the NAP is cancelled, the fee is refunded. Our fee for the review is quoted up front. Call 403-719-6410 to find out what it would cost in your case.

Frequently Asked Questions

Published Decisions

Related driving offences

A NAP often arrives with, or instead of, a criminal charge. These pages cover the situations that most often overlap with a SafeRoads review.

• Immediate Roadside Sanctions lawyers: the sanction itself, the five IRS types and what each one costs.
• Impaired driving lawyers: when police lay a Criminal Code charge under s. 320.14 on top of the NAP.
• Traffic offences lawyers: driving while suspended after a NAP, and other Traffic Safety Act charges.
• SafeRoads Alberta explained: how the portal, fees and timelines work.

Received a Notice of Administrative Penalty in Alberta?

You have 7 days. We file the review, pull the disclosure and argue the grounds, virtually, for drivers anywhere in Alberta. The consultation is free and we tell you up front whether your records show a ground worth fighting. Call 403-719-6410 or send a message using the form below.