I mean that the sanctions imposed are more severe. In some US states, impaired driving is not a criminal offence, unless someone is killed. That's not quite the way it is in Canada. It becomes a criminal offence in some cases, only after the third offence. A BAC level of 0.08% is considerable acceptable. That is new because in the past, in some instances, the acceptable threshold was 1.01%. First-time offenders may be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison, whereas in Canada, the maximum sentence is five years.
On February 12th, 2008. See this statement in context.