New to B.C.: getting your B.C. driver’s licence

Who can exchange without testing

• Other Canadian provinces and territories: knowledge and road tests are waived.
• Most U.S. states: testing is waived for passenger and motorcycle licences.
• These places: B.C. waives the knowledge test (and the road test) for passenger licences from Austria, Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. South Korea and Taiwan are passenger only (not motorcycles); Taiwan needs extra documents and a TECO translation.

From anywhere else, you can still get a B.C. licence, but you take the knowledge test and then a road test. Start early: you have 90 days, and you need to pass the knowledge test before you can book the road test.

If you need to test

1. 1

   Book a knowledge test

   At the same appointment ICBC records your ID and your driving experience. Bring your ID, your current licence, the fees and proof of experience.

2. 2

   Pass the knowledge test

   50 questions, 40 correct to pass, in any of 12 languages. Practise with our ICBC practice test; B.C. rules differ from many countries.

3. 3

   Take the road test

   Usually the Class 5 road test. Bring another qualified driver: if you don’t pass, you get a B.C. learner’s licence and your old licence isn’t returned.

The two-year rule

To skip B.C.’s Graduated Licensing Program you need proof of at least two years of non-learner experience. With less (or no proof), you can still get a Class 7 or 8 licence with graduated licensing restrictions, and you get credit for the time you’ve been driving. If you’ve never held a B.C. licence, your licence expired over three years ago and you can’t prove you drove in the last three years, you take a knowledge test and a road test.

What to bring

• Accepted ID: one primary and one secondary. Most Government of Canada immigration documents work as primary ID.
• Your current driver’s licence (you must surrender it: B.C. allows only one licence).
• Proof of driving experience (a driver’s abstract or record).
• The fee: $31 for a first 2-year licence for non-learner drivers moving to B.C. (or $75 for a 5-year licence), plus any test fees.
• An ICBC-approved translation, if ICBC asks for one.

Insurance experience

ICBC credits up to 15 years of driving experience when you show a driver’s abstract with your original licence date. New residents no longer need proof of past insurance, but premiums are adjusted for your first three years driving in B.C.

Exceptions to the 90-day rule

Tourists visiting for up to six months, full-time students at a designated B.C. institution, people ordinarily resident outside B.C., and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program workers (up to 12 months) can keep driving on their home licence.