Actively pursued reciprocal agreements with foreign jurisdictions on behalf of their citizens.

Guys this subject has 'driven' me crazy for two years but for those who don't wanna re-sit - go to Ontario-exchange it there and then go back and swap it in your province. One day the rest of the provinces in this divided country will catch up!

Canada is supposed to stand for equality and fairness but yet so many of its policies are the complete opposite! DL's are one. It should be all sit or none sit. The truth is that Canada's been 'For sale' for a long time and if you look at where the money's coming in from there's a strong correlation with the favours granted!

My advice - get an IDL online- keep your head down and wait for the provinces to equalise. There IS an equalisation program in place which has as its mandate a harmonisation so Brit licences will one day be accepted across Canada like Ontario!

I am a professional driver holding a dutch DL. Over the past 12 years I did an average of 80,000 km/yr. But to be able to continue driving in Ontario I have to do all road tests over again. That really p!sses me off......

Nip over to Germany and swap your DL for a german one, you will be laughing when you get here

Seven years ago it cost 1500 Deutchmarks to get a driving license in Germany. How much does it cost in Canada? 10-15 Canadian dollars?

Cann't do that. In order to obtain a german DL one has to be a resident of Germany. That is NOT the problem. To problem lies in the fact that changing adress twice causes delays in my application and I don't want to run that risk. Moving to Canada is my priority, everything else comes later.

you also can't do it because you have to have held the licence you are swapping for at least 2 years for it to count. So even when Ontario for example made you take the test like when I moved here last year I couldn't just nip to Quebec and swap it with no test then come back to Ontario and swap the Quebec one with no test as my Quebec one wouldn't show 2 years of driving experience and that in fact puts you in a worse position because you then have to go through the graduated system because even with the ones you have to retest you need 2 years experience to skip the graduated system. So when I moved here last year a UK licence with more than 2 years experience was better than say a US licence with no experience because I could skip the graduated system and move right to the final test and the US holder would have to go through all 2 years of graduated licensing.

In the end just take the test it isn't hard and it helps to actually learn the rules of the jurisdiction you will be driving in.

Drew

Wizzard...... you can nip to Quebec and swap it, because when you do that, they credit you with your years of driving from the UK, and that will reflect on your licence.

For example folks that have swapped their uk license in ontario recently, have 4 dots on a red strip under their picture, showing they have been driving for more than 4yrs.

If I should go to germany and swap a uk license, I believe my experience from the uk will be taken into consideration, since am still automatically in the EU.

A guy on the phone from the quebec office told me that at the time, that my experience from the uk will be taken into consideration, I just had to have a quebec address to have got it at the time.

I used to work as a coach driver for nearly ten years and the last year and a half I'm working as a truck driver. I would like to do the same work in Canada again. I know I have to do a road test in order to exchange my current DL for an Ontario class G license, but what about the upgrades for driving trucks and busses? Do I have to take tests in a truck and a bus also? Or are the upgrades included? Does anyone know about this?

Licenses for driving truck and buses are different, and you have to go through rigorous test to attain these licenses. The only licenses exchangable in ontario from the UK, are those of small cars, no trucks, bikes, nor buses.

A very good reputable truck school here in ontario, is TRI-CITY truck school, based in the waterloo, cambridge, and guelph area. Check this ministry site to see what licenses you need:

http://www.drivetest.ca/en/license/LicenseType.aspx

I've been following this thread with interest.

As I am due to come to BC, where UK licences are not recognised, is it possible to first go to ontario, get a licence there with no test and non-resident (of ontario) status, and then immediately go and exchange it in BC?

Do the provinces not know about this loophole, or is it simply ignored?

Has anyone done this?

The aversion to taking the test is hilarious. The test only takes about 15-20 minutes!

I just think they never thought people will be bothered to do that. You will have to provide an ontario address where the licence will be sent to, passport as ID, and your $50 fee, and have your pic taken whilst you are there.

It will be silly of you of course, to then immediately try to change it in BC, I 'll say give it a while after the 60 day rule before you go change it. Your ontario licence will come with 4 red dots on a white strip, that shows you have been driving for more than 4 years, which is what is needed to be in a car with a learner driver.

I have to agree that it seems silly that UK drivers can't automatically swap their UK licence for a Canadian one in all Provinces - but that is Canada for you! On arrival I would gladly have travelled from Alberta to Ontario to get out of taking the test but after driving around for 3 months on the UK licence and then taking the test it really wasn't a big deal.

You have to pass a written (well on a computer) multi-choice test - this was actually harder than the driving! But as others have said the test itself went by very quickly (20 mins) with no emergency stop, no backing round a corner, no 3 point turn - also when I had to parallel park the instructor could only find a spot with one car in front so really I was just backing into a space with no car behind. Also there was a drift of snow so couldn't see the kerb which worked out well all round! The instructor asked how long I'd been driving in the UK and could obvoiusly tell that I wasn't a novice and had plenty of experience - I'm sure all of us who take the test from the UK are just as good if not better than our Canadian counterparts - especially in Calgary - I heard it has the worst drivers in Canada!

Oh no. All the worst drivers are in BC. Truly. An emergency stop occurs when drivers miss a McDonalds or cheap gas. Three point turns are unheard of. Supersize them to ten point turns in traffic. Reverse round a corner? Ha! Reverse gear is only selected by accident in the dark.