Getting Ontario Driving License while on TRV

[d.jay55]

Hi there

Can visitors to Ontario can get ontario drivers licese i.e. Give the G1 written test, G2 road test etc?

I plan on staying in Canada for 6 mts and will have International driving permit but can only use for 3 mts.

My spouse sponsorship application is in progress but for now I am simply visiting ontario on TRV for now.

Thanks!

 

[bellaluna]

Read this again. The IDP will be valid for more than 3 months and should be valid for your 6 month stay in Ontario.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/drive-ontario-visitors

To answer your original question, only showed my passport when applying for my licence in Ontario, no PR docs were requested so I guess it's possible. They only checked the bio page and not any visas in the passport.

 

[tankala13]

You may be able to apply. But giving the driving test and all the pain for 6 months is not worth it. Test is difficult, people normally take 2-3 times the test to pass. You will be spending around 500-1000$ on getting the licence (Classes, Car for Test etc) so would advice take Uber and enjoy your vacation

 

[bellaluna]

True, but if they expect to be PR in the near future anyway, it might not hurt to get the licence now since it will be a must for them soon. IDP + Uber is not a bad idea though.

 

[tankala13]

The OP didn't mention he has a long term PR plan, hence advising accordingly. Also from what I remember, if you are applying for a licence, and your Indian licence is not in the same format as in the International Driving Licence book you will have to wait for 9 months before giving exam and also you will be have to surrender your Indian licence when you apply for Ontario licence and your licence format is in the book. So why do you want to spend your holiday's in all this.

Another pointer here is, eventhough the rules in the book says 3 months it would be valid, my friends in Winnipeg have rented cars for almost 2 years using an Indian licence. Only catch is that you have to take insurance from the rental company itselft.

 

[bellaluna]

The OP didn't mention he has a long term PR plan, hence advising accordingly.

They implied it:

My spouse sponsorship application is in progress

Also from what I remember, if you are applying for a licence, and your Indian licence is not in the same format as in the International Driving Licence book you will have to wait for 9 months before giving exam and also you will be have to surrender your Indian licence when you apply for Ontario licence and your licence format is in the book. So why do you want to spend your holiday's in all this.

Another pointer here is, eventhough the rules in the book says 3 months it would be valid, my friends in Winnipeg have rented cars for almost 2 years using an Indian licence. Only catch is that you have to take insurance from the rental company itselft.

I am actually in Ontario, and I was able to skip the waiting period for the G2 road test by providing a letter of over 2 years of driving experience from the driver's license-issuing authority. I believe, in India, it's the RTO.

https://drivetest.ca/licences/licence-exchanges/licence_exchange.html

I did not surrender my foreign licence either. I think it would be OK to use a foreign licence with a rental car company over a few years, like what your friends in Winnipeg did, but you don't want to take a risk if you are caught by authorities.

 

[tankala13]

They implied it:

I am actually in Ontario, and I was able to skip the waiting period for the G2 road test by providing a letter of over 2 years of driving experience from the driver's license-issuing authority. I believe, in India, it's the RTO.

https://drivetest.ca/licences/licence-exchanges/licence_exchange.html

I did not surrender my foreign licence either. I think it would be OK to use a foreign licence with a rental car company over a few years, like what your friends in Winnipeg did, but you don't want to take a risk if you are caught by authorities.

Yes, the other option of taking letter from RTO. Completely forgot about it even though I also did the same. ;D. Anyhow, the OP should be made aware of this requirement. Surrendering your foreign licence is a tricky thing as few of my friends didn't and few had to. I also had to surrender. But when I was on WP they returned me the licence whenever I traveled to India and whenever I returned back they would return the Ontario licence.

 

[d.jay55]

Thanks for the advice.

Question regarding the letter of experience. What did u tell RTO u needed to get this kind of a letter? Do I draft the letter and aske them to certify or simply ask them to priovid a drivers abstract?

 

[tankala13]

Thanks for the advice.

Question regarding the letter of experience. What did u tell RTO u needed to get this kind of a letter? Do I draft the letter and aske them to certify or simply ask them to priovid a drivers abstract?

Ask them for a drivers abstract, I had asked a driving school in my area to arrange me for that. He took 200 or 500 and arranged the letter for me. If you are lucky Ontario office may add this to yoru driving history in Canada and your insurance premium may come down . Good luck.

 

[etcoflife]

If you have landed in Ontario as FSW outland can you share how you got your driving license. Like
1) Did you get an exchange license in Ontario?
2) What class?
3) How much time it took to come in your mailbox? etc etc
Thanks

 

[bellaluna]

If you have landed in Ontario as FSW outland can you share how you got your driving license. Like
1) Did you get an exchange license in Ontario?
2) What class?
3) How much time it took to come in your mailbox? etc etc
Thanks

1. No, no exchange recognized, so I had to go through graduated licensing but with waived wait times after presenting a driver's experience letter. If exchange is granted, it will be a full G.
2. G1, then G2. I will probably go for the full G test near the expiry date LOL.
3. Licenses arrived 2 weeks after completing each test. A temporary paper licence is provided right after passing the tests.

 

[etcoflife]

1. No, no exchange recognized, so I had to go through graduated licensing but with waived wait times after presenting a driver's experience letter. If exchange is granted, it will be a full G.
2. G1, then G2. I will probably go for the full G test near the expiry date LOL.
3. Licenses arrived 2 weeks after completing each test. A temporary paper licence is provided right after passing the tests.

Thanks. Your country had a license agreement with them?

 

[bellaluna]

Thanks. Your country had a license agreement with them?

No, which is why I had to take the tests. But since I presented a letter, the waiting times were waived.
https://drivetest.ca/licences/licence-exchanges/foreign-licence-experience-credits.html

A license agreement exchange means the license will be directly exchanged into a full G Ontario license without need for testing.

I could have gone straight ahead to the full G test right after I passed the G1 written test, but I didn't want to yet. A G2 is sufficient for me since I don't have any plans to buy a car (insurance rates are higher on a G2 licence).