Police Stops

The police can stop you and talk to you. They should show identification and explain why they are stopping you. They can ask you questions but you do not need to answer those questions if you do not want to. You do not have to identify yourself just because the police stop you. If you try to go on your way and police will not let you, it means you are being detained or arrested. Police can detain you if they have reasonable grounds to suspect you have committed a crime. If you are detained and the police think you have broken a law, you should identify yourself or they can arrest you to find out your identity. However, you do not have to answer any other questions. If police detain or arrest you, you have the right to speak with a lawyer. Police should tell you this but even if they do not, you can tell them you would like to speak with a lawyer.

For more information about when you can be arrested and what happens next, see our sections on Arrest and Release.    

The police can stop you when you are driving a vehicle (including a boat, snowmobile or ATV) for different reasons, including checking your licence, registration and your sobriety (whether you are intoxicated). If police signal for you to pull over, you should do so and remain calm. You and any passengers with you should stay in your vehicle. There are a few things police are allowed to ask you under The Traffic Safety Act and that you are required to answer or provide: your identity, your licence and registration and information about whether you have consumed alcohol or drugs before or while driving. You must also comply with a roadside screening breath demand made by an officer or you can be charged with a failure to comply. If you have been involved in a vehicle accident, the law requires you and any occupants of your vehicle to provide a statement to police if requested. Other than that, you are not required to say anything to the police.

The information you are required to provide cannot generally be used to charge you with a crime unless you are warned about this possibility, but it may be used to give you a ticket or charge you with a non-criminal offence under, for example, The Traffic Safety Act. If police suspect you have committed an offence when they stop you and they want to gather evidence about it, they must tell you that and that you do not need to answer their questions and have the right to speak with a lawyer. If you feel that police have violated these rules, you can challenge the use of any evidence (including statements) they gathered.

Like police, a wildlife or conservation officer should show identification and explain the reason they are stopping you. If you have a licence issued under The Wildlife Act, 1998, you must show it to an officer who requests it. If you are exercising a Treaty Right to hunt, fish or trap for food, you can show a valid Certificate of Indian Status or a Métis citizenship card. This is not a requirement but will help to prove your right to hunt, fish or trap.

Wildlife or conservation officers (or police exercising those powers) have some additional powers under The Wildlife Act, 1998 to detain someone, ask them questions and search a person or their vehicle. They can use these powers only for regulatory purposes and not to investigate a criminal offence.

Note that RCMP and other police officers are also designated as wildlife officers and can exercise powers under The Wildlife Act, 1998. But they can only do so for the purposes of that Act, not for investigating criminal offences.

If you are charged with an offence under The Wildlife Act, 1998, you should try to get some legal advice if possible, especially if you think that there has been a violation of your Treaty rights.