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 We arrived in Edmonton on a Saturday. Figured there was no point in hanging around in sorting things out so we jumped right in and went to the Motor & Vehicle Registry place. It was actually just one of about 5 in the city.
I walked in and was greeted straight away. I explained I would like to trade my UK license for a local one, and the process began. It took a little longer than I expected as they only exchange 2 or 3 UK licenses in a year, and weren't sure of the procedures.
Looking at my photocard license they could not work out what categories of vehicles I was entitled to drive. At first they asked me to go to the Embassy to get a letter explaining the UK license. I pointed out on the reverse of the card that the numbers down the side were explained. It seems the guy dealing with me had not seen the writing that stated that number 9 on the photcard license is the category of vehicle you can drive.
Once that hurdle was crossed things got a bit easier. They made a couple of photocopies for internal use, and took my original documents - the photocard bit AND the paper part. They photocopied the paper part and gave it to me as a reference in case I might return to the UK.
I then had to take an eye test. This was simple enough. You sit in front of a viewing device and call out the letters on a row they select. It was very similar to what you would get in an optician, but a little more difficult. I was asked to read from row 7 which was quite small. There was also a bit of distortion on the lens of the eye testing device. Wall charts are easier to read! Next was the colour blindness test. Again this was performed using the machine, and similar to colour blind testing I have taken in the UK on cards. Another part of the test was for peripheral vision where a light would flash and you could see it from the corner of your eye.
The last part of the test was for 3D vision I suppose. 7 numbers were displayed and I had to say which 2 appeared closer than the others.
Once I had completed the vision test I had to sign a form in a few places, then have a digital photo taken. I was then sent away with a temporary operators license which is valid for 30 days. The photocard full license will arrive here within the next 7 to 10 days.
The whole thing was fairly painless, and cheap enough at a few cents less than $30.
I hope the information is helpful to anyone else making the move out here to Alberta.
British Expats Member "rabrol"
The Abrol family moved to Canada in December 2005 from Northern England. You can keep up with their latest experiences through the blog on the Abrol family website - www.brol.org.uk
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