Getting an Ontario Driver’s Licence as a Newcomer (2026): Twenty Years of Driving Buys You Twelve Months
And since July 2026, those twelve months no longer shorten the wait.
In short
You have 60 days after becoming an Ontario resident to apply for an Ontario licence. What happens next depends entirely on one thing: whether your country has an exchange agreement with Ontario.
If it does, and you can show two years of full-class driving in the last three, you exchange straight across for $90 and you are done.
If it does not, you enter graduated licensing. Ontario credits you a maximum of twelve months of foreign experience no matter how long you have actually driven — and since 1 July 2026 that credit lets you take the G2 test immediately but cannot shorten the mandatory twelve-month wait between G2 and G. A full licence is at least a year away.
Official fees
Set by the Government of Ontario, in Canadian dollars, taxes included.
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| Class G1 licence package — knowledge test, one G2 road test, five-year licence | $159.75 |
| Knowledge test, each extra attempt | $16.00 |
| Class G2 road test, each extra attempt | $53.75 |
| Class G road test | $91.25 |
| Licence exchange (reciprocal jurisdictions) — the five-year licence fee | $90.00 |
| Five-year licence | $90.00 |
| Official MTO Driver’s Handbook (cash only) | $18.00 |
Can you exchange your licence?
Only from these places, and this list is the single most important thing on the page.
Direct exchange available from: every Canadian province and territory, the Canadian Armed Forces, all U.S. states, and Australia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, the Isle of Man, Japan, Kosovo, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan and Ukraine.
To exchange for a full Class G you must show at least two years of full-class driving experience in the last three years. Without that proof, the exchange still happens but as a novice class, and you finish graduated licensing here.
You cannot exchange a learner permit from anywhere, a licence from a country not on the list, or a licence suspended or cancelled for certain offences. Commercial classes issued outside Canada do not exchange either.
What if your country is not on the list?
Then you enter graduated licensing, and the arithmetic is worth understanding before it surprises you.
Ontario will credit you a maximum of twelve months of foreign driving experience. Twelve is the ceiling whether you have driven for two years or twenty-five. With twelve months credited you may take the G2 road test immediately rather than waiting.
Then comes the part that changed. Since 1 July 2026, drivers from jurisdictions without an exchange agreement must complete the G2 road test and then the G road test at least twelve months later, and that waiting period cannot be reduced by experience. Previously experience could compress the timeline; now it cannot.
So the realistic plan for an experienced driver from a non-agreement country is: apply, take the knowledge test, take the G2 road test, drive on a G2 for a year, then take the G road test. Budget roughly $160 to $300 in fees and one year of calendar time.
A G2 is a real licence and you can drive on it. The restrictions are around blood alcohol, passengers for younger drivers and certain highways in the first six months — not around ordinary commuting.
What to bring, and what to get before you leave
One item on this list is far easier to obtain from your old country than from Ontario, and almost nobody thinks of it in time.
Originals of the supporting documents are retained. Photocopy everything for yourself first, because DriveTest centres do not offer copying.
If your licence was lost, seized or left behind
There is a route, and it is not widely known.
Ontario credits a maximum of one year of foreign driving experience for protected persons, refugee claimants and people from Ukraine who cannot produce an original valid licence. Where the licence was seized at the border, a certified true copy stamped by the Canada Border Services Agency may be presented. Where there is no licence and no copy, a self-declaration of driving experience is accepted, up to that same twelve-month maximum.
The full testing sequence still applies — vision, knowledge, G2 and G road tests — and the declared experience cannot shorten the wait between them. Specific status documents are required at the counter, so check the current list before travelling to a centre.
Practical warnings
What to do next
Two things, and the first one has a deadline you may already be inside. Check whether your country is on the exchange list above. Then, whatever the answer, request a driver’s abstract or letter of authentication from your licensing authority, consulate or embassy — it must be dated within six months, and it is the document that decides how much of your driving history counts.
If you need a translation, get it from an MTO-recognised translator specifically. If you are starting graduated licensing, book the knowledge test and start the clock; the twelve months runs from the G2, not from today.
Compare auto services in Ontario on Ontario24 and contact driving schools and mechanics directly. Ontario24 is a classified directory — we help you find and compare, and we do not vet anyone. Buying a car for the road test? The Safety Standards Certificate guide covers what a used car needs, and the winter tire guide covers your first Ontario winter.
Before you call anyone, it helps to know what this job should cost and what the next one will. What things cost in Ontario in 2026 puts 75 service prices in one table.
Frequently asked questions
Sixty days after you become a resident of Ontario. After that you need an Ontario licence, and once you have one you must use it — the foreign licence is no longer valid for driving here. Visitors staying under three months may keep using their own licence.
The Class G1 licence package is $159.75 and covers the knowledge test, one G2 road test and a five-year licence. Extra knowledge test attempts are $16.00, an extra G2 road test $53.75, and the G road test $91.25. A straight licence exchange costs $90.00, which is the five-year licence fee.
All Canadian provinces and territories, the Canadian Armed Forces, all U.S. states, and Australia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, the Isle of Man, Japan, Kosovo, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan and Ukraine. Learner permits cannot be exchanged from anywhere.
You enter graduated licensing, and since 1 July 2026 you may be credited a maximum of twelve months of foreign driving experience. That lets you take the G2 road test right away, but the mandatory twelve-month wait between the G2 and the G road test cannot be shortened — so a full G licence is at least a year away regardless of how long you have driven.
Your original valid foreign licence, original identification proving your legal name and full date of birth, and where extra experience is claimed, a driver’s abstract or letter of authentication issued within the last six months by the licensing authority, consulate or embassy. Anything not in English or French needs a translation from an MTO-recognised translator.
With a letter of authentication from the issuing authority, consulate or embassy, dated within six months, on official letterhead, showing the date first licensed, licence class, status and expiry. Documents from insurance companies or third-party verification websites are not accepted.
A learner permit cannot be exchanged from any jurisdiction. You start Ontario’s graduated system from the beginning, although any verified full-licence experience you hold may still count toward experience credit.
Sources
Fees, the exchange-agreement list, the 60-day rule, documentation requirements and the experience-credit rules are taken from DriveTest, which delivers driver examination services for Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation, checked 17 September 2026; fees are set by the Government of Ontario. The change effective 1 July 2026 — a maximum of twelve months of credit for drivers from jurisdictions without an exchange agreement, both road tests required, and a mandatory twelve-month interval between them that experience cannot reduce — is published by DriveTest. Rules and fees change, and individual circumstances vary, so confirm current requirements with DriveTest or ServiceOntario before travelling to a centre. Ontario24 is a classified directory and does not issue, test or exchange licences.