cafelatte02 said:
Good evening Jam Fam! Mel you are right about the six months driving class exemption for the newcomers and for the validity of their foreign driving licence, but to exchange it without test you need to immigrate from a country that has an agreement with Canada (mostly European countries), otherwise you need to pass the tests. In Quebec there are two tests (1- Theory to get the apprentice driver licence that allows you to drive with a licence holder; 2- the driving test that is evaluated by the licence office agent). I know it sucks, but driving class are pretty expensive so at least we save that...
What about the other province? Could you please share the requirements for Jamaicans permanent resident to exchange the foreign driving licence for a Canadian one?
Thanks a lot to all of you I wish you a wonderful Christmas :-*
In Ontario, we have 3 classes of licensed - G1, G2 & G. When hubby landed, he had his letter from the tax office in Kingston proving that he has had his license for 4+ years. As cafelatte says - in order to "skip" the whole process, you have to come from certain countries where there are agreements in place - of which, Jamaica is NOT one (but you can skip certain parts in Ontario)! So, in Ontario, hubby had 60 days to get his G1 license - he was able to drive alone & learn to drive on the right side of the road for a bit on his Jamaican license and then went in to write his G1 test (that's the written theory test). This is where you can bypass some of the time (normally you have to keep your G1 for 1 year before you can go for your G2) - if you can prove you have been licensed in another country for a certain number of years (I think it was 4), then you can book your G2 exit test right away. You only have 1 chance at it, so if you fail, you keep you G1 and all the rules that apply to that, if you pass that road test, you skip having your G2 altogether (which you would normally have to keep for 8 months with drivers training and 1 year without) and get your full G, which is what happened for my hubby. The crappy thing about where we live is that he went in with his JA license, could drive on his own and left with his G1, which means he can't drive on his own anymore......and the next appointment they had for his G2 road test was not for 2 weeks, so me and my parents had to drive him to work for 2 weeks while he waited. Once he did his G2 exit test, he had the same driving privilege's as I do. Is getting your drivers license so complicated in other provinces?!