Ontario has among the most strict drinking and driving laws in the world. The legal limit in Ontario is .08 ml of alcohol per 100 ml of blood. That equates to a 200-pound man having three 5% beers. Drinking one beer per hour after will maintain the above .08 level. It's not very much and 90% of people who are charged think they are 100% sober. Driving a boat while over .08 is the same charge as being in a car. If you are an American and have been charged with a blood alcohol level over.08 in your state, Ontario considers you a criminal even though it's not a criminal offense in your state. You will be refused entry into Ontario unless you pay a $250.00. It will be up to the discretion of the customs officer which one he or she chooses. You can also hire a lawyer to get a pardon in your own state or you can contact the American embassy in Canada and get them to get special permission for you to enter. There are four levels of offenses: Over .08: Over .08 is a criminal offense in Ontario. First offense is a minimum $600 fine, automatic 3-month driver's license suspension from the Ministry of Transportation and an additional 12-month suspension by the courts. You also get a 10 year criminal record and lifetime offender registration. People charged with drinking and driving do not qualify for legal aid. If you blow over .08 on the first breath sample and then blow under .08 on your second breath sample, the officer has the choice whether to charge you with impaired or give you a 12 hour suspension. Second offense is a two-year driver's license suspension and a third conviction is a lifetime suspension and two years in prison. The charge is the same for Impaired driving. Impaired: Impaired means you are operating a motor vehicle and show signs of physical impairment. You do not have to be over .08 to be charged with impaired. It's up to the discretion of the officer. Basically this law exist to charge people for narcotic use which there is no convenient roadside test for. Impaired causing bodily harm: If you are over .08 or show signs of physical impairment and get into an accident, you can lose your license for up to 5 years and be charged with up to $10,000. You may also face up to 2 years in jail for your first offense. Impaired causing death: If you get into an accident while drinking and someone is killed, you will be charged with vehicular manslaughter. That's up to 25 years in prison. The Ontario Provincial Police use the Intoxilyzer 5000, which is an infrared energy absorption monitor. Alcohol molecules have a bipolar vibration of 3.4 microns. The subject gives a breath sample. The Intoxilyzer 5000 bombards the air sample with infrared radiation at a frequency of 3.4 microns. Alcohol molecules absorb this energy and the amplitude of their vibration increases. Amplitude is how the molecules are identified. The amount of energy absorption at the 3.4 micron frequency is how the Intoxilyzer 5000 determines the concentration of alcohol molecules. It's a very sophisticated piece of technology. The Ontario courts consider the Intoxilyzer 5000 results the "Word of God". If you feel the results are wrong due to heath reasons, you will have to hire a lawyer, a pharmacologist and a toxicologist. You will also have to rent a medical lab for their tests. You will also have to hire a lawyer in Quebec to get copies of the Intoxilyzer 5000 maintenance logs from a company called the Techno Police. In total, it will cost you $50,000 or more. In Ontario, you are guilty as soon as you fail a breath test. You need overwhelming evidence to overturn a drinking and driving charge. In conclusion Do not drink and drive, AT ALL