Call Off the Dogs: Rethinking Sniffer Dog Searches in Canadian Criminal Law

The Supreme Court of Canada has repeatedly held that police sniffer dog searches are Charter-compliant based on the reasonable suspicion standard because they are minimally intrusive, narrowly targeted, and can be highly accurate. Subsequent empirical research, however, has cast serious doubt on these assumptions. Studies demonstrate significant concerns regarding the accuracy of police sniffer dogs, the harms associated with false alerts, and the influence of handler cueing, which can transmit unconscious biases and produce unwarranted searches. In light of this evidence, this article argues that the rationale for applying the reasonable suspicion standard no longer holds. Sniffer dog searches should instead require reasonable and probable grounds, leaving resulting investigative limitations to be addressed by Parliament through legislative reform.