Ontario demerit points: the full table, and how they come off

Ontario assigns 2 to 7 demerit points per conviction, scaled to the offence: 7 for failing to remain at a collision or to stop for police, 6 for careless driving, racing, 50 km/h or more over the limit or passing a stopped school bus, down to 2 for a seat belt or signalling offence. Points stay on your record for two years from the offence date, and a fully licensed driver is suspended for 30 days at 15 or more.

The table, from most to fewest points

7 points: Failing to remain at the scene of a collision; Failing to stop when signalled by police.

6 points: Careless driving; Racing; Exceeding the speed limit by 40 km/h or more where the limit is under 80 km/h; Exceeding the speed limit by 50 km/h or more; Failing to stop for a school bus.

5 points: Failing to stop at an unprotected railway crossing (bus drivers).

4 points: Exceeding the speed limit by 30 to 49 km/h; Following too closely; Failing to stop at a pedestrian crossover.

3 points: Driving while holding or using a hand-held device; Viewing a display screen unrelated to driving; Exceeding the speed limit by 16 to 29 km/h; Improper passing; Driving the wrong way on a divided road; Failing to yield the right of way; Failing to obey a stop sign, traffic light or railway crossing signal; Improper lane use; Improper use of a high-occupancy vehicle lane; Other traffic-control violations.

2 points: Improper turns; Failing to signal; Failing to wear a seat belt; Failing to ensure a child passenger is properly secured; Opening a vehicle door improperly; Backing on a highway; Failing to lower headlamp beams; Failing to share the road.

Two years from the offence date, not the conviction

Ontario states that demerit points stay on your record for two years from the offence date. That is the date the offence happened, not the date you were convicted and not the date you paid, so a slow court does not extend the clock.

The conviction itself lives on the 3-year driver record for three years. It is normal to see a conviction listed with no points left in the running total; the two entries are on different clocks.

What happens at 6, 9 and 15 points

For a fully licensed driver Ontario publishes three thresholds: 6 to 8 points, a warning letter; 9 to 14 points, a second warning letter; 15 or more points, the licence is suspended for 30 days.

Novice licences (G1, G2, M1, M2) are on a separate and stricter scale. The numbers above are the full-licence ones and should not be read as yours if you are a novice driver.

Where to see your own total

The 3-year driver record the ministry issues carries your demerit point total as its own line, alongside the convictions that produced it. It is the only way to see the number the ministry is actually counting, as opposed to adding up what you remember.

If the total or a conviction on it looks wrong, the record is the evidence you start from. The guide on fixing a wrong record says who corrects what.

Common questions

How many demerit points is speeding in Ontario?

It depends on how far over the limit: 3 points for 16 to 29 km/h over, 4 for 30 to 49, and 6 for 50 or more (or 40 or more where the limit is under 80 km/h), as Ontario publishes it.

How many demerit points is careless driving?

Six, the same as racing and as failing to stop for a school bus. Only failing to remain at a collision and failing to stop for police carry more, at seven.

How many points before a suspension?

Fifteen or more for a fully licensed driver, which Ontario publishes as a 30-day suspension, after warning letters at 6 to 8 and at 9 to 14 points.

What we could not confirm

These are things this page would have liked to tell you and could not find on a Ministry of Transportation or ServiceOntario page. Rather than guess, they are listed.

  • The ministry's page groups offences by point value without Highway Traffic Act section numbers, so none are quoted here; a table elsewhere that attaches section numbers to each row is that site's addition, not the ministry's.
  • The novice-driver thresholds are stated to be different but their values were not confirmed on the page cited.
  • The fine for driving while suspended is set by the Highway Traffic Act, not stated on the ministry's record or demerit pages, so it is not quoted here.

Sources

Everything on this page is checked against a page published by the Government of Ontario or the Ministry of Transportation. Nothing is taken from another commercial site.

Checked .

Next: how to read an Ontario driver record: convictions, suspensions and demerit points , or what the 3-year Ontario driver record shows, and what it leaves out .

This is a guide, not a sales page, which is why there is no price on it. If you do want us to order the record for you, that is what we do.