Little update on the drivers license/insurance issue that may be helpful to those returning to Canada from Korea. Last week we went to the DMV to get our Korean drivers licenses changed over to Ontario. The clerk said that before she could do that, we needed to take our Korean licenses to the Korean Consulate and have them "vaildated". So, we took them to the Korean consulate in Toronto and they provided us with a document which translated the information on the license into English and indicated the length of time we had been licensed in Korea. We took that back to the DMV and they issued Ontario licenses for my wife and I.
So yesterday I bought a used car and needed to get some car insurance. You may recall my post from last month where I said I had contacted some insurers who all said that my rates would be ridiculously high because I had no recent Ontario driving history. It seems that was incorrect. The first insurance agent I visited punched my license number into her computer and it showed continuous driving in Ontario since I first got my license back in high school. Same for my wife. It showed her as having driven in Ontario since she got her license in Korea years ago, even though she's never lived here. I told the agent that we had been living in Korea for the past 12 years and she said that she thought that under the arrangments between Korea and Ontario, drivers are credited with their foreign driving record once the embassy validates that record. As a result my insurance was dirt cheap. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.
Rented a house yesterday and will be moving in next week. Got a house and a car, once I get a job and CIS approves my wife's PR, we'll be all set.
