(This story will make more sense if you read Part I first…)
I booked a road test on DriveTest in September, shortly after receiving the “Notice of novice driver’s licence expiry” letter. Fully booked for October. The first available date was November 4. Damn. We were getting dangerously close to winter and possible bad weather but hey, what’s more Canadian than a road test in a blizzard?
I texted an instructor I found on Kijiji and arranged a few hours of practice. I also rented a car for the test—I didn’t want to involve Feng in my unfinished business this time.
Something strange happened along the way. Getting behind the wheel for the first time in months, I realized I was no longer scared. Suddenly, I knew what to do. I felt confident enough and my instructor didn’t seem overly concerned with my driving abilities. “You’re thinking too much!” he said. “Just… go and try not to think so much.”
I didn’t sleep well the night before the road test. Silly me.
There are two DriveTest centres in Ottawa—Walkley and Canotek. I dealt with Walkley, closer to my neighbourhood… by Canadian standards, it’s still 8 km away.
The morning of the test, I had thirty minutes of practice with the car, then I grabbed a coffee and I registered inside the centre. I stood behind all the cars backed into the designed parking spots, smoking under the light rain. It was cold. I finished my cigarette and took a seat behind the wheel.
You see all kinds of cars at the test centre—driving school cars (like the one I rented), borrowed cars with anxious friends waiting nearby, brand-new cars owed by not-yet-fully-licensed overconfident drivers, cars with scratches and dents as a testimony to parallel parking training. You see all kinds of people too, but mostly newcomers. Born-and-raised Canadians tend to take their road test during summer months, when school is out and the weather nicer. Newcomers don’t have such luxury and foresight.
The examiner, a thirty-something guy with many tattoos and a bored look on his face, showed up at exactly 10:40 a.m. No doubt a true Canadian—when I turned on the heat because I was cold, he sighed and opened the window. I put the car in drive and hoped I didn’t fail the test just because I like the heat on when it’s 0⁰C outside.
Three-point turn and parallel parking were performed behind the test centre. Then I was instructed to turn left on Walkley. I merged onto the Airport Parkway and sped up. “Take the Hunt Club West exit.” I made the quick “emergency stop” in a residential neighbourhood, then back to Hunt Club, Airport Parkway and Walkley.
The examiner kept on taking notes on his tablet but I had no idea how well I was doing. I was just driving as if I was alone in the car.
“The lot if full,” he sighed once back at the test centre. “Oh, here.” I saw the spot too late and I didn’t park straight enough but apparently this final parking job wasn’t part of the test because he gave me a puzzled look when I reversed to fix it.
“Congratulations on getting your full G licence. Just go inside the test centre. Bye.”
And that was it. It was 11:10, the test was exactly 30-minute long.
The instructor was waiting for me. I gave him back the car keys and told him the good news, then he drove away.
I walked inside the test centre. It was packed. I took a number because it seemed like the right thing to do, then ten minutes later I realized one of the twenty thousand signs posted I was reading out of boredom instructed drivers who had passed the test to go directly to one of the booths.
You must have heard a joke or two about the American Department of Motor Vehicles, the DMV—apparently, it’s never a pleasant experience. Well, holy shit, it’s the same in Canada.
“Hi, I just passed the G test and I was told to come inside the centre.”
“You have to go to Service Ontario and pay $63.”
“Sure! Is this the step to have the G licence issued?”
“Are you stupid? The paper I just gave you is the temporary licence. Do. You. UNDERSTAND?”
I stared at the woman in disbelief. No, I didn’t really understand. I didn’t even know how Canadians could be so rude—are they required to undergo some kind of training?
Not a single sorry was offered. I paused for a couple of seconds, then decided I’d just Google the next step instead of asking. I glanced at the paper one last time—it did say “G licence”—and left.
I walked out of Walkey with my temporary licence neatly folded around my G2 licence.
Yes, I walked out. The instructor had left with the car. A licence and no vehicle. Story of my life.
But damn, it feels good to deal with unfinished business and achieve something.
Funny anecdote. I’ve never owned a car in France during the 15 years I had my licence here, so I’ve never had an insurance. So, technically, if I go back there, insurance companies will consider me a novice driver.
My experience with Canadian DMV has been with the SAAQ offices, gouvernement sponsored facilities in Québec, and with privately owned registries in Alberta. And it has always been very easy to deal with.
This rude behaviour is weird.
My experience is different because my French car driving licence was recognized by the SAAQ, I only had to get my truck driving licence, which were automatically converted when I moved in Alberta.
French driver’s licences are accepted in Ontario (and anywhere in Canada) as well. I always found the switching process weird, though. Obviously, I didn’t have a French licence so no first-hand experience but apparently, you literally hand over your French license. Why?? Why can’t you keep both? So weird.
How does insurance work when you drive a commercial vehicle? I.e. is it a company insurance or do you have to take your own?
It seems it depends of the mood of the clerk. I didn’t have to give my French licence in Québec, which I would have protested because at the time, I envisionned to get back in France for a few monthes because I had to wait 3 monthes before being able to pass my truck driver licence, and I would have needed it to work.
But yes, I got my Québec driving licence exchanged with an Albertan one when I moved, but it’s not a problem because there is a strict equivalency between provinces. The reason here is to avoid people who pretend to live in another province than the one they really live (for taxes and voting purposes). In fact, you have something like two monthes (or two weeks?) to register your car on the province you just moved to.
For insurance, I’m insured through the company I subcontract for, but I could have my own. However, it would be more expensive and more complicated.
Wow, you’re the only person I know who didn’t have to hand over the license! I don’t mind the switching between provinces (i.e. trading a Quebec license for an Ontario license, etc.) but it gets complicated when a Canadian province keeps your foreign license. From what I’ve heard, getting a new French license issued if you move back is tricky and long.
Anticlimactic for the tester, ha ha, but a big deal for you! Congratulations!!!
Why some people are rude, I don’t know.
How did the instructor think you were going to get home??
It was interesting to hear about your experience because it was a long time ago that I had mine– I took the test as a teen sometime around my 18th birthday, as did most of my classmates (my family was living in the suburbs by that time).
Congrats again!!! Celebrate by taking a spin around town!!
Thank you! … and guess what, I haven’t driven since the test 😆 I just rarely have the chance at home. That said, I knew I’m no longer scared of driving, so that’s something.
I had given the instructor my blessing to go, it takes a long, long time to wrap things up at the test centre. Took me over an hour.
Just to say: I haven’t driven my car since more than one year. I’m planning to get rid of it before the end of the year because I can make without it.
Not to self–if you offer me a car ride, decline. Lack of recent experience 😆
Funny thing I note: you look a lot like an old picture of you you shared when you were younger at the Argentinian/Chile border I think.
Must have been taken around the same time… the picture on my existing driver’s licence (still haven’t received the new one) was taken 10 years ago 😉
Good job 😉
THank you 🙂
Youhouh! Here, it’s just the one test. But same, the woman was borderline rude, she was not replying to my questions and as she made a mistake, I have to pay $10 (good thing about Manitoba, it’s cheap) to get a new card issued. Not impressed.
Feng got his license in Manitoba when he was a teen and he couldn’t believe how complicated it was in Ontario!
Félicitations !
Ici la plupart des jeunes passent par la formule conduite accompagnée avant de passer l’examen du permis et c’est un bon système je trouve, même si c’est contraignant pour les parents…
Lors de mon année à Chicago j’avais bien aimé conduire en ville et sur le highway, globalement je trouve que les Américains sont bcp plus courtois et moins excités que les Français au volant. C’est pareil au Canada ?
I definitely find it easier to drive in Canada than in France. The whole country was designed for driving… clear directions, straight roads, enough space, it’s perfect! So many goddamn roundabouts in France… I learned to drive in the town with the most roundabouts in France (if still current, St Herblain).
I also signed up for the conduite accompagnée but it didn’t go as planned. My dad (only person with a licence in the family) was working in Paris and he was only back on weekends, plus we lived in the city centre and rarely drove places in the first place. And then, the car broke down for good and was never replaced. My sister never learned to drive and my younger brother gave it a shot, again with my dad on a borrowed car, but he failed the test and gave up so he has a Phd but no licence 😆
Ma foi tu es tombée sur une dame sympathique lol (à la fin). Mais congrats !!! Je n’ai juste pas compris qq chose : avec le G2 tu pouvais conduire… mais pas complètement ?
C’est effectivement pas clair, leur système. Avec le G2, tu as exactement les mêmes droits que n’importe quel titulaire du permis (sauf pour le taux d’alcool dans le sang, je crois… vu que je ne bois pas du tout, j’ai oublié!). MAIS, ton permis expire si tu n’as pas passé le “vrai” test, le G, après 5 ans. En gros, c’est un permis de transition.
Yay, congrats! It always puzzles me how rude are the clerks in government offices… And it seems Driver’s Test centers must be the worst place to work (?). Is their job THAT boring or are they trained to be unfeeling idiots?
It seems to get very busy (no wonder, you almost *need* a licence in Canada) but the job doesn’t look that bad. I mean, it’s customer service. I had to go to Service Ontario after to apply for a new license and despite the massive lineup, employees were friendly and efficient.
Congratulations!!
Whoa that was rude of them…
When I moved here, I just went to the Walkley location to have my U.S. license converted into Canadian one. Took 10 mins to get a temporary until they mailed it to me.
Did you find them nicer than at the DMV? Any DMV nightmare story?
Honest, it was a bit faster and a bit nicer.
One time when I was in a DMV in Baltimore, I waited for 3 hrs before I was told I needed more paperwork. When i would tell my boss i needed to go to DmV, he would say ” oh so you are taking half day off because it will be long” and as always, it was. I would bring snacks and water and my ipod to kill time. Other times, a book. People call it “Gate of Hell”.
😆 Sorry, just the thought of you eating, listening to music, relaxing… oh wait, not relaxing, you’re in line! Sounds pretty ridiculous, what a way to offer service! Sounds very French too, I’ve heard it’s the same at the préfecture (to get a residency card, for instance).