Northern Ont. driving instructor’s licence suspended after traffic stop

A patrol officer with the Thunder Bay Police Service holds up a roadside breathalyzer inside their cruiser indicating an alert following at traffic stop on July 16, 2025. (Thunder Bay Police Service/Facebook)

A Thunder Bay driving instructor faces a licence suspension and fines after police say a traffic stop revealed multiple infractions, including alcohol consumption, cellphone use and failure to wear a seatbelt.

The Thunder Bay Police Service stated in a social media post on July 16 that an officer pulled over the instructor at 9:40 a.m. while he was driving a marked driving school vehicle on his way to work.

A ‘troubling’ stop

“A very troubling stop on many fronts,” police said.

The officer initially stopped the driver for using a cellphone while operating the vehicle and not wearing a seatbelt.

“Bad yes, but things get worse,” the post continued.

Authorities said the officer detected alcohol on the driver’s breath and administered a roadside breathalyzer test, which registered in the “warn range” of 50 to 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

As a result of the incident, the driving instructor received a three-day licence suspension under Ontario’s warn-range suspension rules, along with two tickets – one for distracted driving for the cellphone use and another for not wearing a seatbelt.

No lessons that day

“He will not be conducting any driving lessons today,” police confirmed in their post on Wednesday.

The incident has raised concerns about road safety, particularly given the instructor’s role in training new motorists in the region.

Police have not released any information about the instructor’s identity or employer.

However on Thursday, a social media post by DriveWise Thunder Bay said the driver in question has been fired.

Driver was on probation

“One of our new employees that was still on probation was charged with alcohol driving offences, seatbelt and cellphone offenses today,” the post said.

“He was immediately terminated. We do not tolerate this behavior and want to assure clients and parents that we took immediate action. This has been a busy day covering my job and the former instructors lessons and therefore this statement comes late in the day.”