Published In
Alberta Law Review
Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
2026
Subjects
Sniffer Dog, Searches, Criminal Law, Canada
Abstract
The Supreme Court of Canada has repeatedly held that police sniffer dog searches are Charter-compliant based on a low standard of reasonable suspicion because they are minimally intrusive, narrowly targeted, and can be highly accurate. Since the Court last considered their constitutionality, however, extensive empirical research has fundamentally challenged assumptions about the reliability and accuracy of police sniffer dogs, as well as the harm to individuals subjected to these searches. Moreover, the phenomenon of handler cueing can operate to transmit a police officer’s unconscious biases—even those they would consciously reject—to their dogs, further reducing accuracy and leading to false alerts and unnecessary arrests. Because this evidence has fundamentally shifted the parameters of the debate, the underlying rationale for the use of the reasonable suspicion standard no longer holds. The reasonable and probable grounds standard, which has generally been applied to search and seizure powers, should therefore apply to sniffer dog searches to ensure that power is used in accordance with Section 8 of the Charter. If that standard creates a “legislative gap” that makes sniffer dogs a less useful investigative tool, that is a matter that should be left to Parliament, which is best positioned to create a proper statutory framework regulating the training, testing, and use of police sniffer dogs.
Citation Details
S. Gordon, "Call Off the Dogs: Rethinking Sniffer Dog Searches in Canadian Criminal Law" Alberta Law Review (forthcoming in 2026).