Canada - British Expat Forum

Email in response to my query:-

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Thank you for your reply to my most recent E-mail dated August 12, 2004.


I am pleased to provide you some additional information at this time. Alberta has had preliminary discussions with  UK licensing authorities about Alberta recognizing UK licences and is presently reviewing the agreements very recently put in place in other Canadian provinces.


While it is perhaps encouraging for you to know that a full and formal reciprocal licensing agreement with the UK will be pursued I need to inform you that Alberta's experience to date has been that reciprocal licensing agreements take several months to finalize. As you are aware you have 90 days to obtain an Alberta licence.Therefore perhaps there is a hope it would be in place to meet your licensing needs but it is too early in the process for me to predict.


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Hth someone

Biiiiink

In other words, keep dreaming ! Driving test is a cash cow for them, and they are not ready to let that cow die.

I thought it sounded rather promising. Perhaps I am simply not used to the Canadian ways yet...

leoville wrote:In other words, keep dreaming ! Driving test is a cash cow for them, and they are not ready to let that cow die.

You pessimist! The man from Alberta transportation said a few months...I take that to be a maximum of 12. I'll be pestering him regularly for updates

Seriously though, I don't think giving Brits driving tests can be *that* lucrative. I read there were around 2,000 Brits emigrated to Canada last year. Of those some will inevitably be children and non-license holders, many will go to Ontario and some to the three other provinces where you can exchange. The number of British license holders taking tests in the remainder of Canada can't really be a big money spinner for anybody...

I'm hopeful. Although having had a British license for only 6wks I have no idea of the potential exchange implications for me. But at least Mr Biiiiink will be able to ferry me around when our 90 days are up ;D

Biiiiink

P.S. DVLA don't care that Canadians' arrangments are not country-wide, not based on repricocity (did I just make that word up?!) - they have determined the Canadian test and system to be of a high enough standard that they will happily exchange Canadians' licenses for British ones, although only to drive automatic cars unless they take a manual test.

Can anybody tell me where I can contact the Alberta Transport people, so that I can get some advice about getting my Alberta Licence as soon as I can after I arrive - Thanks

You need to speak to someone in a Registry Office - they handle all the stuff for driving licenses. There are lots around in every city or you can try online at the [url=AMA]www.ama.ab.ca[/url].

The process of getting an Alberta license is fairly straight forward. Take the written test (20 questions) and then the drivers test (sames as the UK). My actual driving test only took about 4 minutes and didn't have a problem (my written test was a different matter as I managed to fail it! Twice!).

Update via email, rec'd 29 October 04:-

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"We at Alberta Transportation are hoping an agreement will be finalized by year's end or, early-on in the new year at the latest.

Regards,"
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Biiiiink

Thanks for the advice guys - hopefully I'll be able to do a straight exchange if the Alberta people pull their finger out! I have heard that in the past your motor insurance premiums were greatly reduced when you gained a local licence. Does anyone know if this is the case when you do a licence exchange without a test?

Hi,
Does anybody know what i would do in MA about my licence?
Thank you.

mummy24 wrote:Hi, Does anybody know what i would do in MA about my licence? Thank you.

I think you mean Mb?

anyway here's an address:

Manitoba Highways
Motor Vehicle Licencing
1075 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3G 0S1
Tel: 204-945-6850
Fax: 204-945-0652
http://www.gov.mb.ca/tgs/index.html

You should find the info you need there

Morw.

Where are the other to provinces other than Ontario, where I can exchange my UK driving licence?

Just to let you know!!!

Both my husband and I got our Alberta licences really easily. I was on a visitors permit for 6 months so was able to drive on my UK licence for that time. We were asked to provide our driver record (10 quid from DVLA) - thats because the people issung licences don't know how to read UK ones. However when we went to the shop (One Stop licence shop), the records hadn't arrived - so the girl just issued my husband his licence, when I finally got my extended work permit, I went in with that and got my licence too......It seemed to depend on the day of the week for the regulations and requirements! Neither of us took a test. Oh and another thing we are both insured on older cars for about 300 bucks in total