hi all

i know this has been talked about plenty of times, but im trying to understand what i need to do with my uk licence, i have read that i can drive for 90 days, but the job that i will be going to requires me to drive as soon as i start, so should i exchange my licience as soon a s i get there or shell i appy for a international one first, or is it a waste of money.

sorry again

or could someone let me know the web site address for this in NS

thanks

You do not need an international driver's licence. Just go to Nova Scotia and start your job. If your job requires you to drive, no problem (unless you're going to be a long haul truck driver and need a special licence to drive one of those humungous trucks). Just start your job and drive on your UK licence. But make sure that you have obtained a Nova Scotia driver's licence within your first 90 days in Nova Scotia. For this you will need to do a test that assesses your knowledge of the rules of the road as well as a practical driving test.

By the way, you can't get an international driver's licence in Canada. If you want one, you have to get it while you're still in the UK. You don't need an international driver's licence, but I'm just mentioning this for clarification.
x

hi

thanks for that, is there a website that we could take a look at, or a list of offices where this need to be done

Go to Google.

Once you're there, there will be an empty horizontal box across the middle of the screen.

Into that box, type:
Then click on the button labelled, "Google Search."

This will take you to a screen on which there are many relevant links.

When I do this search, the very first link is to the website of Registry of Motor Vehicles - Drivers Licence Information.

That page, in turn, has a link to instructions for a person who is getting a driver's licence for the first time.

The document on that screen mentions a graduated driver's licence. We have that system here in Alberta too. What it means is that certain restrictions are placed on a new driver for the first couple of years that they're driving. You can circumvent that if you can demonstrate that you drove for more than two years in the jurisdiction in which you got your previous licence.

In case you're not already familiar with search engines like Google, you can use them to search for many other topics.

Access Nova Scotia is the place you need to go to sort out your licence - there are branches in various places

i'm not sure about NS provincial driving but i went to exchange my UK licence here in Ontario this morning and i have lived here for 10 years and not driven and they did a straight exchange for a full G licence, no questions asked...easy !

UK licences are exchanged without testing in Ontario and Alberta but not in any other provinces that I know of.

If anyone knows of a province besides Ontario and Alberta that exchanges UK licences without a practical driving test, it would be nice if you'd add it to the Wiki called Driver's Licence-Canada.
x

so can you buy a car with a uk licence then, have i not got to purchase number plates, first before i have brought one

Licensing a car and licensing a human being to drive a car are two completely different processes.

And, no, you don't have to buy a car licence before you've bought a car. And you don't need a provincial driver's licence in order to buy a car. At least not in Alberta.

In fact it would be impossible to license a car before you'd bought it, because the car's details, e.g., brand, model, year (and perhaps even engine serial number) have to be provided before you can get a licence for the car.

So the sequence goes like this:

• Buy car.
• Go to registry office and apply for licence for car.
• Return to dealership with a number plate and screw it onto the car.
• Drive car off dealer's lot.

I think you asked questions about buying a car at an auction. I've never bought a car at an auction, and I don't know how that works.
x

thanks judy, you have been a great help today

Hi Judy, I updated the wiki to say New Brunswick also doesn't require a driving test, it was a straight swap. We had northern irish licenses and these were swapped too but not sure if we were just lucky

Sinead

and some

the Nova Scotia driving test is a doddle and absolutely nothing to worry about.
eg 5 minutes through the one set of traffic lights in the local town and your done, the examiner was more interested in chatting and was great.

re buying a car, the dealer will give you a yellow sticker and you then have 30 days to get the plates, they can extend for another 30 days if you want.

buying a car easy just go in pay your dosh and drive away, getting your plates also easy.

dont forget insurance we got ours set up before we bought the car then the dealer just phoned the insurance broker for us and gave him the VIN number and off we went!
we bought a Nova Scotia highway code but did not get any questions, you can get from librays or from the place where you book your written and practical tests , the book costs around $8.
Good luck all

forgot to say you dont need to have taken the driving tests before buying the car or getting insurance we had ours for about 5 weeks before the test.

Insurance company were quite happy to insure without it so long as we send a copy of the nova scotia licence once obtained.
no pressure all very laid back
fully comp insurance for a pontiac montana was $679 for the year which we thought was excellent especially after reading the horror stories on here about the cost of motor insurance

sounds good, does anyone know of a good car sales garage , we would be looking at the lower end of the market, not the 20,000 plus range, also can anyone point us in direction of there website please