Using electronic device while driving...

[Krystine]

Hi there,

My partner was issued a traffic ticket of using electronic device while driving last year and was granted approx. $300 fine and some penalty point. Then he paid within the due date.

In detail, he was stopping at the red light and while waiting it turning to the green light, he changed the music on his cellphone.

I know speeding ticket (for example) is not considered as a Criminal Record in Canada, but what about our case? Hope it won't affect our PR application...

 

[HassanH]

Yes it will. It will be deemed as a public safety issue and that he/she is risking the lives of Canadians. Don't want to seem as mrs. gloom and doom but I would start looking for other countries that does take that issue so seriously.

That is entirely untrue and misleading.

Hi there,

My partner was issued a traffic ticket of using electronic device while driving last year and was granted approx. $300 fine and some penalty point. Then he paid within the due date.

In detail, he was stopping at the red light and while waiting it turning to the green light, he changed the music on his cellphone.

I know speeding ticket (for example) is not considered as a Criminal Record in Canada, but what about our case? Hope it won't affect our PR application...

Don't worry, no one will bother with this. And even if they did, literally everyone I know (Canadian or otherwise) got a ticket at some point in their lives, and despite what some people think, IRCC are not stupid. No one's gonna block your immigration because of something like this, don't worry

In Canada, most driving charges are considered to be either indictable offenses, which are more serious, or hybrid offenses, which means that the charge can proceed as either an indictable or a summary offense.

A traffic ticket is not an indictable offense, what would happen in Canada is that they deduct "points" from your record. Only serious offences like DUIs, for which there is an arrest rather than a citation or ticket, or offences for which a personal appearance in court is required, or some offences involving a collision resulting in personal injury or death to persons, will get you in trouble.

Traffic infractions are at worst a summary offence, a person is automatically criminally inadmissible to Canada in cases where the Canadian equivalent of the offense that a person was convicted of is an indictable offense.

In short, if your criminal record is clear you have nothing to worry about

 

[zardoz]

Hi there,

My partner was issued a traffic ticket of using electronic device while driving last year and was granted approx. $300 fine and some penalty point. Then he paid within the due date.

In detail, he was stopping at the red light and while waiting it turning to the green light, he changed the music on his cellphone.

I know speeding ticket (for example) is not considered as a Criminal Record in Canada, but what about our case? Hope it won't affect our PR application...

I doubt that it will have any negative effect on a PR application. It's a traffic issue, not a criminal law issue.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Yes it will. It will be deemed as a public safety issue and that he/she is risking the lives of Canadians. Don't want to seem as mrs. gloom and doom but I would start looking for other countries that does take that issue so seriously.

Incorrect. It is not a criminal offense, so it will not affect the PR app.