Can an impaired driving charge involving bodily harm count as serious criminality rather than ordinary?

Yes. Adding bodily harm to an impaired driving offence generally increases its seriousness under Canadian criminal law, which in turn affects how it is classified for immigration purposes. Serious criminality is assessed by looking at the maximum sentence available for the Canadian equivalent offence, or the sentence actually imposed — and an impaired driving offence causing bodily harm typically carries a higher maximum penalty under Canadian law than straightforward impaired driving without injury to anyone.

This distinction matters well beyond labelling. A serious criminality finding generally forecloses deemed rehabilitation, meaning the automatic, no-application route to overcoming the finding isn't available regardless of how much time has passed. It can also affect what other relief, such as certain appeal rights, might otherwise be available. Someone assuming their impaired driving matter is "just" an ordinary inadmissibility issue because they think of impaired driving generically, without accounting for the bodily harm element, can be caught off guard by how it's actually assessed.

Because the exact sentencing thresholds that separate criminality from serious criminality are set out in the regulations and depend on the specific facts, anyone with an impaired driving conviction involving injury to another person should get a proper equivalency and severity assessment rather than assuming the outcome.