nm2013

on a British driving license before having to take a canadian test?

and do you have to retake all tests ie if you have a class 1 driving license here in England

tracykate

I believe its only 3 months you can drive on british license, but i just swapped my british one over for an ontario one and no tests were needed.

nm2013

many thanks

Siouxie

You must swap your licence in Ontario within 60 days.

If you have been driving on a full UK licence for less than 2 years (in the past 3) you can't swap your licence and will need to enter the graduated licencing program. You will get credit for any experience you can prove.

If you have been driving on a full UK licence for more than 2 years then you will be able to swap your licence.

More info here: http://www.drivetest.ca/EN/licencing...l-Licence.aspx

Reidies

I have lived here for almost three years and haven't swapped my licence. I haven't driven here. Will I need to take a test?

Siouxie

Oh dear, I think your biggest problem may be that you have to show proof of driving experience in 2 out of the past 3 years when exchanging your licence.

I would suggest going to one of the offices and asking - I really don't know if you would be required to enter the graduated licencing program or not.

I would strongly suggest you don't leave it too much longer to find out!

markstimson

You're fine. Driving experience literally means holding a valid licence for 2 out of the last 3 years. (i.e if you had a UK licence that expired 4 years ago for example, then you'd have a problem).

You don't need to show you've actually been driving. Canada loves its bureaucracy but that would be madness!

FYI I phoned the DVLA back in Blighty yesterday to try and obtain a duplicate licence on account of surrendering my UK one to obtain an Ontario licence. They informed me they were aware I had exchanged and were unable simply to issue a replacement. The driving agencies must therefore talk to each other so you'll need to do a straight swap again if ever you wanted your UK licence back.

wolstie

I don't recall having to prove driving experience within the last three years, when I swapped my licence.

I did have insurance documents on hand to prove it though, if needed.

MarylandNed

Since you were required to exchange your GB licence for an Ontario one within 60 days of taking up residence in Ontario, they might not let you do so now. It may be that your GB licence is no longer considered valid (since you no longer live there). It's worth trying an exchange asap because the alternative is starting over in Ontario.

magnumpi

The Canadian drivers license is more than just for driving. It's also a valid photo ID card that is usually prefered, when asked for ID. For that reason alone you should seek to exchange it ASAP.

Mircha

This is not so good - I was hoping to get my UK license when I go back as I still have a car over there. I will try applying and see what they say then!

I don't think you'll have to take a test as long as the UK license is valid, other than the eye test. When I changed mine it was over 60 days that I was here but not as long as you...they didn't even ask when I came to Canada so you should be ok to do the swap.

Novocastrian

I don't see why that matters. You can drive your car in the UK on your Ontario license. Assuming you'd be there visiting rather than re-establishing residency.

Reidies

Well, finally got my act together and swapped my license today. They never asked me how long I've been in Canada.

Thanks for all the replies.

colchar

And, unlike Britain, there aren't separate licenses here for manual and automatic transmissions. So long as you have a valid driver's license you can drive either one.

colchar

They won't know if you haven't driven but an expired license would be a different story. If your Ontario license expires and you do not renew it within three years you have to start the whole process from scratch so that would apply to a foreign license as well.

I know this because it happened to me years ago. I had missed a renewal notice (probably because I was away at university) and completely forgot about renewing my license. I was discussing licenses with a friend who is a traffic cop and mentioned that I still had the old two-part license. He told me that nobody should have one of those any more and, when he checked my license, it turned out that it had been expired for just over three years. When I went in to renew it I was told that I had to enter the new graduated license program and start from scratch because the time limit was three years. Obviously I flipped out a bit. The lady managing the service center was the mother of a guy I had gone to high school with and she had known me my whole life. She said that even though she knew I had had my license for years, there was no way to override the computer. She did usher me in for a written test and immediately scheduled the initial road test for less than an hour after I had completed the written test. But I still had to go through the rest of the licensing process and pay the fees the whole step of the way.

Based on my experience I think it is safe to say that someone with an expired foreign license would most definitely have to go through the whole process.