Canadians Say Impaired Driving Is a Serious Public Safety Issue and Want Governments to Act

OAKVILLE, Ontario, Jan. 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- An overwhelming majority of Canadians say impaired driving is a serious public safety issue and support MADD Canada’s policies for change, according to a new national survey, conducted by IPSOS for MADD Canada. Over 90% of Canadians agree impaired driving is a serious public safety issue, including nearly three-quarters (74%) who strongly agree. Less than half of Canadians think that governments are doing enough to address the issue.

The survey shows strong public support for measures to reduce impaired driving and hold offenders accountable. Eighty percent of Canadians believe the Canadian government should pass a law requiring passive impairment detection technology in new vehicles, similar to legislation in the United States, which will see all new cars have anti-impaired driving technology by 2030.

MADD Canada National President Tanya Hansen Pratt said, “With the support of Canadians, MADD Canada will continue to encourage the Government of Canada to commit to this life saving technology. I can only imagine the difference this technology would have made in 1999 when my Mom, Beryl, was killed by an impaired driver. Victims and survivors of impaired driving want to see action from the Canadian Government.”

Canadians also support expanding existing laws to better combat impaired driving. Ninety-five percent support the expansion of Mandatory Alcohol Screening (MAS) to allow police to demand a breath test from any driver involved in a collision and almost 90% agree MAS should be expanded to allow police to demand a breath test from anyone operating a personal vessel or boat. Support for an expansion of MAS comes as it has been upheld as constitutional.

More than nine in ten Canadians (93%) agree that drivers who cause death while impaired should be required to have ignition interlocks (a technology that prevents people from operating their vehicle if they are impaired by alcohol) installed in their vehicles for life, which will allow these individuals to drive legally and maintain insurance.

The survey identified significant knowledge gaps among Canadians regarding non-criminal impaired driving thresholds at the provincial and territorial level. Only 36 % of Canadians are aware that all provinces and territories, except Quebec, have a non-criminal threshold for impaired driving, which is .05% blood alcohol concentration (BAC) (or .04% in Saskatchewan). A majority of Quebecers (71%) think their government should implement a similar law in the province. MADD Canada has called on the Quebec government to introduce a provincial sanction for drivers at .05% BAC, which is supported by provincial coroners, law enforcement and the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ).

“These survey results show that Canadians recognize the dangers of impaired driving and want governments to do more to prevent it,” says MADD Canada CEO Steve Sullivan. “The strong public support for enhanced laws and enforcement measures reinforces the need for action to reduce deaths and injuries caused by impaired driving.”

For more information on the survey, click here.

About the Study
These are findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between November 25 and 27, 2025, on behalf of MADD Canada. For this survey, a sample of 1,985 Canadians aged 18 years and over (including 1,764 with a valid driver’s licence) was interviewed. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

About MADD Canada
MADD Canada (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) is a national, charitable organization that is committed to stopping impaired driving and supporting the victims of this violent crime. With volunteer-driven groups in close to 100 communities across Canada, MADD Canada aims to offer support services to victims, heighten awareness of the dangers of impaired driving and save lives and prevent injuries on our roads. For more information, visit www.madd.ca.

For more information, contact:
Steve Sullivan, MADD Canada CEO, 1-800-665-6233, ext. 224 or ssullivan@madd.ca
Arielle Nkongmeneck, MADD Canada Communications Manager, 1-800-665-6233, ext. 240 or ankongmeneck@madd.ca

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