Exchanging driving license - Certificate of Entitlement
 

Hello everyone
I arrived to Toronto a couple of weeks ago and have been trying to exchange my British license to Ontario.
I have had my UK license for approx 10 years (I exchanged it to UK when I arrived in Great Britain over 10 years ago), however since it expired in September and has been renewed, it does not show that I have had it for more than 2 years.

At the drive test centre when I was trying to exchange it to Ontario I was told to bring a Certificate of Entitlement from DVLA to show that my UK license was issued more than 2 years ago. I've searched DVLA's website and there is no such a thing that I could get online from them.

Does anyone has any experience with dealing with a similar request from the drive test centre? I do not have the paper counterpart to show them neither....

Re: Exchanging driving license - Certificate of Entitlement
 

Hello and welcome to BE - and to Ontario!! Exciting times! :welcome:

You should be able to get proof of your driving experience by obtaining a copy of your details online - :)
https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence / https://www.viewdrivingrecord.servic...licence-number

https://www.ontario.ca/page/exchange...rivers-licence
We have a great wiki section on moving over, you might find of use :) https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Categ...gistics-Canada

Re: Exchanging driving license - Certificate of Entitlement
 

Hi Siuxie

Thank you for your prompt reply. And for the warm welcome!

I’ve looked up the DVLA website again and applied for a code to share my driving info with others. The report produced says the same what the driving license: valid from (Sept 2020 - this is when the new license was issued once the old license expired ) and valid to date, the categories of vehicles I can drive and the start dates for these. What it does not say is the date when I got my license in the UK and this is the info that Drive centre is after. As such with the record available online I cannot prove I have had the license for longer than 2 years.


Is there other way to get that info, maybe someone has gone through similar trouble?

Re: Exchanging driving license - Certificate of Entitlement
 

Have you checked the back of the license you have? It should show how long you have held a license and for which categories.. the date shown in column 10 is when you passed your test for that category :)
https://assets.publishing.service.go...g-licences.pdf (opens in new tab) - perhaps show this to Ontario Driver Licence as the official leaflet by UK DVLA / Govt. explains what the codes mean :)


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...cc5b1d4514.jpg

Re: Exchanging driving license - Certificate of Entitlement
 

Yep. My UK photo licence had that on tge back. The Ottawa DriveTest centre were familiar with this and immediately accepted these dates and did NOT even want to glance at the full DVLA abstract I had with me.

Re: Exchanging driving license - Certificate of Entitlement
 

Thank you both for the replies. The drive test clerk had my license and I believe she looked up the back of it to see the dates (or perhaps she did not?). Anyway, I will try again with the printed record and will have to be more persistent this time so I'm not sent home with nothing this time again!

Re: Exchanging driving license - Certificate of Entitlement
 

Did mine this morning in London, Ontario. I had a UK 3 year medical licence which only just got renewed in August but as per comments the back showed the original pass dates. I had things ready to 'prove' my pass date but the guy flipped it over, commented that I had been driving for 22 years and was good to go.

Good luck with yours!

Re: Exchanging driving license - Certificate of Entitlement
 

so your 14 day quarantine is already over then??

Re: Exchanging driving license - Certificate of Entitlement
 

Yes! Ended at the weekend so been busy exploring (as much as you can without a car) and getting jobs (licence & OHIP) done

Re: Exchanging driving license - Certificate of Entitlement
 

well, you certainly have a white Christmas to admire!!