Graduated Licensing System

Anyone going after a first car or motorcycle licence in Ontario starts out in the graduated licensing system, which is designed to let newcomers pick up driving skills and experience step by step. Getting all the way through this two-stage process takes a minimum of 20 months.

The application itself has three requirements. You must:

1. Be at least 16 years old
2. Pass a vision test
3. Pass a knowledge test on traffic signs and the rules of the road

Clear all three and you move into Level One, where you're issued a Class G1 licence. Full licensing then takes two road tests:

• Pass the first and you advance to Level Two (Class G2)
• Pass the second and you earn full Class G driving privileges

Level One runs for 12 months, though clearing an approved driver-education course shortens it to 8 months. These rules govern you the whole time you're at Level One:

• Zero blood-alcohol level: there can be no alcohol in your system at all when you drive
• Accompanying driver required: a fully licensed driver has to occupy the front passenger seat, and no one else is permitted up front beside you. That person must:
• Hold a valid Class G (or higher) licence
• Have at least 4 years of driving experience (valid time spent at the G2 level counts toward this)
• Be at a blood-alcohol level of less than 0.05%
• Have a licence that, while it may carry demerit points, is not suspended
• Seatbelt for every passenger: every occupant of the vehicle needs a working seatbelt
• No 400-series highways: 400-series highways posted above 80 km/h are off-limits, as are the Queen Elizabeth Way, Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway in the GTA, the E.C. Row Expressway in Windsor, and the Conestoga Parkway in Kitchener-Waterloo. Exception: when your accompanying driver is a licensed driving instructor, any road is fair game
• No driving between midnight and 5 a.m.

Study up with this guide before you sit the G1 knowledge test, then make sure you arrive with:

• Two pieces of identification
• Test-fee payment -- by cash, debit, or credit card
• Glasses or contact lenses, if you rely on them to drive

Heading into your G1 exit test, line up the following:

• A vehicle in good working order
• Money for test fees, if any apply
• Your glasses or contact lenses, if needed
• Enough lead time to show up at least 30 minutes ahead of your road test appointment
• An accompanying driver to travel with you to the test centre, which is required because you're still a Level One driver

Level Two carries on for at least 12 months. Having built up some experience, you now enjoy a wider set of privileges.

While at Level Two:

• Zero blood-alcohol level: driving after drinking any alcohol is prohibited
• Every person in the vehicle still needs a working seatbelt

Passenger limits that apply to G2 drivers 19 and younger during the midnight-to-5-a.m. window:

• For the first 6 months of holding your G2 licence: no more than one passenger aged 19 or under at a time
• Once 6 months have passed (and until you reach a full G or your 20th birthday): the ceiling rises to three such passengers aged 19 or younger

When these limits don't apply: the passenger rules are waived if either

• a fully-licensed driver is seated beside you in the front passenger seat, or
• the passengers belong to your immediate family -- a guardian, or anyone related to you by blood, marriage, common-law relationship or adoption

A road test evaluates how you handle the vehicle and cope with traffic, gauging whether you can stick to the rules of the road and drive safely.

Once you feel up to it, book a slot at any DriveTest Centre -- online, over the phone, or by showing up in person.

Key things to know about the road test:

• Bring a suitable vehicle that's roadworthy, in proper working order, plated and insured
• The only person allowed in the car besides you is the examiner -- no pets or other passengers
• That rule rules out instructors, friends, relatives and translators tagging along
• Electronic driving aids are not permitted -- this means no automatic parallel-parking systems, no lane monitoring, no cruise control and no back-up cameras
• A gap of at least 10 days is mandatory between attempts
• Each road test runs to a fixed time limit, which the examiner explains beforehand
• Nothing the examiner asks of you will ever be illegal

When the test wraps up, the examiner hands you a full report and walks you through any errors you made.

Before the G2 exit test you need highway driving experience, meaning time spent on highways posted at 80 km/h or higher, and you must fill out a Declaration of Highway Driving Experience form.

What to bring:

• A vehicle in good working order
• Money for test fees, if any apply
• Your glasses or contact lenses, if needed
• Plan to arrive a minimum of 30 minutes before your appointment

Cancellation: cancel or reschedule on fewer than 48 hours notice -- or simply don't show up -- and you forfeit the prepaid road-test fee, the lone exception being genuine extenuating circumstances like a death in your immediate family.

Out-of-order road test: should your vehicle fall short of ministry standards, the examiner calls the test out-of-order. That costs you 50% of the road-test fee, while the remaining 50% stays on your driving record as a credit.

Topics the written test might touch on include:

• Seatbelts
• Traffic signs and lights
• Emergency vehicles
• How to use headlights
• Speed limits
• Getting on or off a freeway
• Streetcars and school buses
• Driver licence suspensions
• The demerit point system
• Passing other vehicles
• Collision reporting
• Sharing the road with other road users
• Rules of the road