Overview
Demerit points are assigned for traffic violations. They are applied to your driving record on your conviction date and remain on your driving record and driver's abstract for 2 years from the date of conviction. Your conviction date is not the date you received the ticket.
For more information, see the Demerit Point Program and Service of Documents Regulation in the Traffic Safety Act.
Fully (non-GDL) licensed drivers
Graduated Driver’s Licence (GDL) drivers
Appeals
You cannot appeal a demerit driving suspension. However, you may request a review of the demerit points to ensure they were not assigned in error. If you believe demerit points were assigned to your driver’s licence in error, you can submit a request in writing to Driver Fitness and Monitoring to have your record reviewed as per section 99 of the Traffic Safety Act.
Convictions can only be removed from your driving record by an appeal through the Court of Justice of Alberta. If you want to appeal the most recent conviction that triggered your demerit driving suspension, the appeal and/or set aside process must be processed at the Court of Justice Alberta location where you were convicted.
Merit credit
To reduce the number of demerits on your driving record, you can participate in a Defensive Driving Course or a Professional Driver Improvement Course. To avoid a demerit driving suspension, the course must be completed prior to the conviction date of the driving offence which caused your demerit suspension. You must schedule it through a licensed driver training school.
Once you’ve successfully completed the course, you must submit the Notice of Driver Education Course Completion form to any Alberta registry agent to have it applied to your driving record. A registry agent service fee may apply.
The course completion form is valid for 2 years from the date of completion. You can only apply a driver training course to your driving record once every 2 years. If there is a pending or an active suspension, a merit credit should not be applied until after your driver's licence is reinstated, as you will not receive any benefit from the merit credit.
If a merit course was added incorrectly or applied to your driving record, you can return to the registry agent where you had the merit course applied and ask for assistance.
Driving while serving a demerit suspension
Fully licensed drivers with demerit driving suspensions can apply to the Restricted Driver’s Licence Program to drive for their primary employment, health or educational reasons. Restrictions vary for applicants, depending on a person’s need to drive while under a demerit suspension. Factors such as hours of work, travel time to and from work, shift work, training commitments and health needs are considered in assessing applications.
Contact
Connect with the Driver Programs Client Support Centre