You can go to Canada with a DUI, but usually not without first clearing an immigration hurdle. Canada classifies impaired driving as a serious criminal offense, which makes anyone with a DUI conviction inadmissible at the border. Depending on when your offense occurred and how much time has passed since you finished your sentence, your route in is either automatic rehabilitation after enough years, a formal Criminal Rehabilitation application, or a Temporary Resident Permit for a specific trip.
Why a DUI Makes You Inadmissible
Canada’s Criminal Code makes it an offense to drive while impaired by alcohol or drugs, or with a blood alcohol concentration at or above 80 mg per 100 mL.1Department of Justice Canada. Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46) – Section 320.14 Prosecuted as an indictable offense, impaired driving carries a maximum sentence of ten years. That ceiling is what triggers immigration consequences: Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act defines “serious criminality” as any offense punishable by a maximum term of at least ten years.2Department of Justice Canada. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (SC 2001, c. 27) – Section 36
How your home state labels the offense doesn’t change the analysis. A misdemeanor DUI in Arizona or a first-offense OWI in Wisconsin gets measured against the Canadian equivalent. If that equivalent reaches the serious criminality threshold, you face the same immigration consequences as someone convicted of a serious crime inside Canada.
How Border Officers Find Out
They see it when they scan your passport. Since late 2015, the Canada Border Services Agency has had direct access to the FBI’s criminal database, which is linked to the National Crime Information Center covering federal, state, and local records across the United States. A DUI conviction, arrest, or outstanding warrant can appear during a routine passport scan, with no secondary screening required.
The check happens before you arrive too. Flying to Canada requires an Electronic Travel Authorization, and the application runs a background screening that can flag a DUI and result in denial before you board. Driving across the land border doesn’t avoid the check, since the officer at the crossing has the same database access.
Does the Date of Your DUI Matter?
Yes. On December 18, 2018, tougher impaired-driving penalties took effect in Canada. Before that date, the standard offense carried a five-year maximum. After it, the maximum rose to ten years, pushing DUI into the serious criminality category.3Government of Canada. Convicted of Driving While Impaired
If your offense occurred before December 18, 2018, your inadmissibility is assessed under the old penalties. You may be classified under the less severe “criminality” tier, which keeps the automatic-rehabilitation route open. If your offense occurred on or after that date, it counts as serious criminality, and automatic rehabilitation is off the table. Your only paths in are Criminal Rehabilitation or a Temporary Resident Permit.
Deemed Rehabilitation: The Automatic Route
Deemed rehabilitation happens by the passage of time, with no application. For a single indictable offense punishable by less than ten years in Canada, you become deemed rehabilitated ten years after you complete your entire sentence, which includes fines, probation, community service, and license reinstatement.4Government of Canada. Deemed Rehabilitation For two or more summary conviction offenses, the wait is five years. You must also have no other convictions, and the offense cannot have involved serious property damage, physical harm, or weapons.
The catch: deemed rehabilitation is not available for offenses classified as serious criminality.4Government of Canada. Deemed Rehabilitation So this route only works for DUIs that predate December 18, 2018.
Criminal Rehabilitation: The Application Route
Criminal Rehabilitation is a formal application that, once approved, permanently resolves your inadmissibility. It is available for serious criminality, which makes it the main pathway for anyone with a post-2018 DUI.
You become eligible to apply five years after completing every element of your sentence. If you received three years of probation, the five-year clock starts when probation ends, not when you were convicted or released from custody.5Government of Canada. Rehabilitation for Persons Who Are Inadmissible to Canada Because of Past Criminal Activity
The application centers on form IMM 1444 with checklist IMM 5507. You will need your full court and sentencing records, police certificates from every state and country where you have lived since age 18 (including an FBI Identity History Summary for U.S. applicants), proof that you completed every part of your sentence, a personal statement about the offense and what has changed since, and character references.
As of December 2025, the processing fee is $246.25 CAD for offenses in the criminality tier and $1,231 CAD for serious criminality.6Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Citizenship and Immigration Application Fees – Fee List Most current applicants pay the higher fee. Processing can take more than a year, so start well before any planned trip.5Government of Canada. Rehabilitation for Persons Who Are Inadmissible to Canada Because of Past Criminal Activity
Temporary Resident Permit: The Short-Term Fix
A Temporary Resident Permit gets you into Canada before you qualify for Criminal Rehabilitation or while a rehabilitation application is pending. The permit does not erase your inadmissibility; it overrides it for a defined period, from a single day up to three years.7Government of Canada. Temporary Resident Permits
The officer reviewing the application weighs your need to enter against any risk to Canadian society.8Government of Canada. Overcome Criminal Convictions Business travel backed by a signed contract or conference registration, a close family member’s funeral, or a medical appointment at a Canadian facility are the kinds of reasons that succeed. A vacation, weighed against a serious criminality finding, generally is not.
The form is IMM 5708, and the processing fee is $246.25 CAD.6Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Citizenship and Immigration Application Fees – Fee List You can submit it in advance to a Canadian consulate, which takes several months, or at a port of entry for an immediate decision. Applying at the border is faster but carries a real risk of refusal on the spot. Applying through a consulate gives you time to fix problems and avoids being turned away with no fallback.
What If Your DUI Was Reduced or Expunged?
A reduction does not automatically solve the problem. A “wet reckless” conviction is generally treated as equivalent to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle under Canadian law, which is itself a criminal offense that triggers inadmissibility. A “dry reckless” or careless driving conviction is usually a regulatory traffic matter with no criminal equivalent in Canada, and generally does not cause inadmissibility, though you carry the burden of showing that at the border. Bring your court records and the text of the statute you were convicted under.
A U.S. expungement or pardon likewise does not automatically restore your admissibility. Canada makes its own determination based on the Canadian equivalent of the offense, and expunged convictions can still appear in FBI databases the officer will see. An expungement can support a Criminal Rehabilitation application, but it does not replace it. If your DUI has been sealed or expunged and you plan to visit Canada, treat yourself as inadmissible until you go through the Canadian process.
What If Your Case Is Still Open?
You don’t need a conviction to be turned away. Officers can deny entry to anyone with pending criminal charges when there is evidence of criminal activity likely to result in a conviction. An open DUI case, an upcoming trial, or an outstanding warrant should be expected to cause problems at the border. A TRP is technically available for people with pending charges, but approval odds are low. The practical answer is to resolve the case first.
If You Get Turned Away
If a border officer finds you inadmissible, you will be refused entry and directed back to the United States. The refusal goes on your CBSA record and will surface at every future attempt. There is no on-the-spot appeal. Your options after a refusal are the same ones above: apply for Criminal Rehabilitation if you’re eligible, or submit a TRP through a Canadian consulate before trying again. Showing up a second time without having taken any of those steps is unlikely to end differently.