Driving in Canada

NoelAPM

So.. from my research It appears if you have an Australian drivers license you can simply pay a fee and get a full licence in British Columbia.

has any1 any experience in this? I mean all i did was swap my Irish one for an Australian... will they still accept it. has any1 done this before?

ciaran67

NoelAPM wrote: »

So.. from my research It appears if you have an Australian drivers license you can simply pay a fee and get a full licence in British Columbia.

has any1 any experience in this? I mean all i did was swap my Irish one for an Australian... will they still accept it. has any1 done this before?

Yep. Kind of scary when you think its very different driving here. I had to sit my test when i moved here from London in 1998.

Clicky me

NoelAPM

ciaran67 wrote: »

NoelAPM wrote: »

So.. from my research It appears if you have an Australian drivers license you can simply pay a fee and get a full licence in British Columbia.

has any1 any experience in this? I mean all i did was swap my Irish one for an Australian... will they still accept it. has any1 done this before?

Yep. Kind of scary when you think its very different driving here. I had to sit my test when i moved here from London in 1998.

Clicky me

Ah it's not the fear it's just the hassle of having to sit tests etc. I'd like to avoid it if possible. That site is Rather grey in my opinion!

From my reading I see it both ways! It doesn't say you need to actually need to prove your an Australian. Just that you can swap your Australian liscence.
Yet it doesn't specifically say if you have an Australian liscence and are not Australian you can't swap it over?

ciaran67

NoelAPM wrote: »

Ah it's not the fear it's just the hassle of having to sit tests etc. I'd like to avoid it if possible. That site is Rather grey in my opinion!

From my reading I see it both ways! It doesn't say you need to actually need to prove your an Australian. Just that you can swap your Australian liscence.
Yet it doesn't specifically say if you have an Australian liscence and are not Australian you can't swap it over?

You could go into ICBC with the strongest Glaswegian accent and tell them you're an Aussie and they wouldnt bat an eyelid. You'll be fine just to swap over. I swapped my UK license over with my Irish passport as ID, no questions asked.

NoelAPM

The Aussie Licence will be only a year old, and there requirement is 2 years driving, so ill have to Prove I've been driving for nearly 10 with my Irish licence as proof.

So i wonder if they'll pull me up then and say I have to go the Irish licence way and sit a theory and Driving test since i'm not an Australian.

ssa2010

Hi folks,

I am also looking to see if I can swap my Irish Licence for a UK one with the intention of swapping the latter for a Canadian (Ontario) licence. I am also worried about the 2 years experience clause in Ontario as I would only have a few months on the UK licence, though I have over 8 years on my current Irish one. Has anyone gone via the UK exchange route? How easy is it to change to UK licence? Also how do one go about the 2 years requirement?

red menace

ssa2010 wrote: »

Hi folks,

I am also looking to see if I can swap my Irish Licence for a UK one with the intention of swapping the latter for a Canadian (Ontario) licence. I am also worried about the 2 years experience clause in Ontario as I would only have a few months on the UK licence, though I have over 8 years on my current Irish one. Has anyone gone via the UK exchange route? How easy is it to change to UK licence? Also how do one go about the 2 years requirement?

I can only speak for Alberta so ymmv.
They will not accept a northern license as a UK license. They refused to recognise my wifes license so she will have to do the test like I did.

as far as I know you need a social insurance number and an address in the UK. The test is no big deal, probably less hassle to do than arrange a UK license.
I applied in early feb.did the theory test
Booked test for middle of march. Did one lesson and did the advanced test and passed

damob9

Hi Red Menace,
Did you need anything besides your license to get the theory test and how did you get on with insurance,

red menace

damob9 wrote: »

Hi Red Menace,
Did you need anything besides your license to get the theory test and how did you get on with insurance,

A second piece of ID had my passport with me so used that.
havent bought a car yet so cant answer your second question sorry

InTheTrees

ciaran67 wrote: »

Yep. Kind of scary when you think its very different driving here. I had to sit my test when i moved here from London in 1998.

I used to think Washington State drivers were the worst in North America until I started visiting BC regularly.

I can well imagine they wouldnt give a sh*t where you're licence comes from because they plainly dont give a rats ass about driving standards. The only thing that stops complete carnage is their treacle like sloth. 50kph is considered Reckless High Speed. Its like driving in Bombay in sloooow motion.

:mad:

/RantOFF

TobyRyan

Hi guys

Just wondering if it is still the same process in Alberta Canada as I heard that the RSA are trying to get a reciprocal License agreement for the Republic? Is the test really that much of a hassle?

NewsMeQuick

NoelAPM wrote: »

The Aussie Licence will be only a year old, and there requirement is 2 years driving, so ill have to Prove I've been driving for nearly 10 with my Irish licence as proof.

So i wonder if they'll pull me up then and say I have to go the Irish licence way and sit a theory and Driving test since i'm not an Australian.

Is that definitely the case, you need to prove you have been driving for 2 years before you can 'swap your license' so to speak? I'm aiming for the next IEC visa and have not driven before and wondered should I do it in advance, Canada looks tricky to get around outside of major urban areas. But, if you do need 2 years driving before...maybe I should just learn there.

Rob66

Hi just wondering what the story is with driving over in Canada? i have a full irish driving license so what will i have to do to be able to drive over there?

Thanks,

bongomad

Rob66 wrote: »

Hi just wondering what the story is with driving over in Canada? i have a full irish driving license so what will i have to do to be able to drive over there?

Thanks,

Hi robb if you have a look in the Canada region forum there's plenty of threads on this , the answer varies on which part of Canada you will be staying ie Alberta you would have to re do your test and Saskatoon you can just exchange it

Panthro

Thread merged with previous thread about Driving in Canada

againstthetide

Rob66 wrote: »

Hi just wondering what the story is with driving over in Canada? i have a full irish driving license so what will i have to do to be able to drive over there?

Thanks,

Most provinces will require you to do a driving test.
If you have a full license for more than 2 years you can skip straight to the advanced test so you can have an unrestricted license
Residents of saskatchewan can swap straight for a Canadian license

mcerc

Hi there,

I'm in BC. Has anyone have any experience of swapping an Irish licence for a UK licence from abroad? From what I can tell you just need to send your passport, driving licence and a few forms to the UK. Then say you are residing in the UK. Has anyone done this?

Would like to know if it would work or not.

Thanks

Mcerc

NoelAPM

Sorry to state the obvious, but your not residing in the uk. You cant get a phone without proof of address so doubt they hand out legal documents. I would like to hear more on this tho since i am moving to the uk soon.

mcerc

You don't need proof of address. You need an address, a passport, a driving license and forms from the UK driving authority.