Have you recently moved to Ontario from another country? First let us say welcome to Canada! You’re going to love it here. We have cold winters, warm summers, and a well earned reputation as the friendliest country in the world. Second, Canada is pretty big and to get around you’re going to want a car. And to get a car you’re going to need an Ontario Drivers license, it’s a complicated process but we’ll walk you through the steps.
Exchange or Credit
To own and register a car in Ontario you’re going to need to get an Ontario license. The process of doing this will differ slightly depending on your country of origin, but the broad strokes are the same, you’ll need to exchange your original license either for an Ontario license or for credit towards a new one depending on the policy towards your country, you can find out each country’s policies here.
If your country has an exchange agreement then following the steps below will end in you simply getting a new license, if not then the steps below are still worthwhile as they will give you an easier time on qualifying to get one.
Paperwork
You’ll also need a whole bunch of paperwork. You’ll need at least three pieces of acceptable identification from this list, but the easiest are probably your passport or your Canadian Issued identification, bring as much as you can though, sometimes things don’t go to plan and it’s always better to bring any applicable documents just in case.
You’ll also need your Canadian citizenship/permanent residency or other applicable paperwork that shows you can legally live in Canada, your foreign driver’s license of course, and finally what’s called an abstract.
An abstract is essentially a record of your driving history that you can get issued by your country of origin. Where you can get one is also dependent on your country of origin. If you’re getting the license exchanged then you may be able to skip this one, but if you need to get approved for a license a good drivers history will be extremely helpful.
In Person Dealings
Ontario licenses can only be issued via an in person meeting, so once you have all of the paperwork in order you need to go to a Drive Test Center or a Service Ontario office to get the paperwork sorted and a picture taken for your new license, there’s also of course fees involved. For a license exchange expect around $100.
After that you’ll need to wait a few weeks for your license to be delivered and after that you’re free to start the buying and driving process in Canada.
If your country doesn’t have an exchange policy you’ll probably be required to sit a Canadian drivers test, so study up on Canadian road rules and make sure you don’t confuse them with differences to your country of origin, that’s what will trip you up.