Administrative Driver’s License Suspensions (ADLS) can occur upon the recommendation of a doctor or optometrist. B Sections 203 and 204 of the Highway Traffic Act puts a requirement on medical practitioners and optometrists to report to the Ministry of Transportation any condition that would make it dangerous for a person to operate a motor vehicle. B These conditions can include perceived addictions to drugs and/or alcohol.
If you disagree with your doctor as to whether your suspension is valid, you can request an administrative review with the Driver Improvement Office. B The administrative review’s purpose is to give the suspended person an opportunity to provide more information that might not have been available to the MTO when the “decision” was made. B “Decision” is in quotation marks is because the Medical Review Section merely rubber-stamps the report made by the medical practitioner/optometrist. B The bureaucrat that attends the administrative review will not be the person deciding on the review. B A report is generated by the bureaucrat and the Medical Review Section will send you another notice about your license status. B I am not aware of any instances where a license was reinstated after an administrative review.
If the Medical Review Section confirms your license suspension, then you can launch an appeal to the License Appeal Tribunal (LAT). B It is separate from the MTO, as it hears other types of license appeals. B The LAT relies on evidence and medical opinion in the cases where alcohol or drug addiction is alleged. B This may be in the form of a “satisfactory medical report” from the doctor that originally made the recommendation to the Medical Review Section of the MTO. B Satisfactory Medical Reports for those in recovery for addictions would include a psychiatric assessment, your psychiatric history, diagnosis, treatment, medication, hospitalization(s), discharges from hospital, current status, and future prognosis. B For alcohol/drug ADLS suspensions (not due to criminal charges), the MTO and or the LAT will need to see aB period of sobriety for at least one year. B (See my other blog post about this issue.)
Your doctor/optometrist can submit new information to the MTO at any time. B All this will do, however, is to initiate a review of your suspension, nothing more.
If you have a complaint about any aspect of the ADLS process you can contact the Ombudsman of Ontario. B The Ombudsman is an Officer of the Ontario Legislature who is independent of the government and the political parties. B This is an office of the last resort. B The Ombudsman will not investigate a matter that is greater than 12 months old, unless it is an exceptional circumstance.
What To Do When Your Licence Is Suspended But You Are Not Addicted:
- Contact me here.
- I will help you determine if an appeal is possible.
See my previous post on this topic.
