Converting an Irish Driving Licence to a Canadian one

CBCB2

Hi,

I was just wondering has anyone had any experience of converting an Irish driving licence to a Canadian one?

I was told that if possible I should convert my Irish licence to a UK one, as this would transfer over my years driving experience. Then when I get to Canada they will recognise my UK licence and give me credit for the years driving experience.

Whereas, if I was to go over with my Irish licence I would have to take a test to convert it to a Canadian one and I'd loose my years of experience as they will only count it from the day I've taken the test.

Are there any Irish or UK emigrants out there who have any experience of this? I've tried googling a few things to see what would be the best way but to of no avail!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks a mill!

againstthetide

How long do you have your Irish License?

CBCB2

I have my full Irish licence 8 years & I have 10 years of being insured, and I've had no claims in those ten years (touch wood it continues like that!).

So it's quite a lot so I'd like to be able to get some credit for it. Or not have to start again from scratch if you know what I mean?

againstthetide

People recommend switching to a UK license so you don't have to do the test here.
That's the only benefit, the UK license is a straight swap while the IRish one requires you to do the test.
Your Irish NCB will be recognized over here once you have the letters from your insurers
What province are you moving to?

MagicMarker

I lived in Sask for a while and was able to get a Canadian license without having to do any test.

againstthetide

Yep Sask had changed the rules already and I hear other provinces are following suit but prob wont be that quick.

CBCB2

I'm moving to Ontario.

That's great to know that they'll recognise my no claims. Do I need to get my no claims witnessed by a solicitor here before I go, do you know?

Thanks for all your help!

againstthetide

Not that I know of, haven't heard of anyone getting them notarized to be honest

CBCB2

Ok, good to know. Thanks for all that!

galwaygal27

Irish Canadian Immigration Centre
13 hours ago
The Sunday Times

IRISH driving licences will soon be officially recognised in certain Canadian cities, under a mutual agreement being negotiated by the government to help emigrants. Leo Varadkar, the transport minister, asked the Road Safety Authority (RSA) to begin work on a "mutual recognition system" of Canadian and Irish driving licences after the issue was raised with him by members of the Irish diaspora during an official visit to Canada. The transport department has also received a number of
representations from members of the public on the issue.
In response to a parliamentary question last week, Varadkar said it wasn't possible to negotiate a mutual
agreement at a national level in Canada, because each province has different laws, so it was decided to focus on areas where there is a "concentration" of Irish emigrants. "As such, following engagement with the Irish embassy in Ottawa, a number of provinces in Canada have been identified for mutual
recognition purposes," he said. "It has been decided to prioritise Ontario as it is home to a large community of Irish people.
"The RSA have recently provided a comprehensive report to the Irish embassy in Ontario on the details of the
driver licensing and driver testing system in Ireland. The embassy has also requested similar information from the licensing authority in Ontario. [Then], the RSA will seek to come to a mutually acceptable agreement, if appropriate, with the licensing authority in Ontario." The move has been widely welcomed
by recent Irish emigrants to Canada, many of whom have found getting a new licence expensive and arduous. "It would make a huge difference to anyone coming over to Canada," said Derek McCabe, a 28-year-old car salesman from Leitrim who
is living in Ontario. McCabe had to get a stamped
letter from his local county council, confirming he had been driving since he was 17. He then had to sit a theory test and take some driving lessons. He needed his licence urgently in order to start working, and was worried he could be delayed if he opted to sit the test in Ontario. Instead, he applied to do his
practical test in a town outside the city. "The whole process cost me over C$300 (€236) by the time I was finished," he said. "It's an awful lot of hassle to get a new licence, and it can be very expensive." Michael Cullen, who emigrated to
Toronto four years ago, decided against applying for a new licence because he believed the Irish government would eventually set up a mutual recognition system. "Other countries like Austria, France, Belgium and Great Britain don't have to do this because they have an agreement with the Canadian government," he said. "It is a
totally political thing." The RSA said it had negotiated
agreements with other countries, including Japan, Australia, Gibraltar, and South Africa.

CBCB2

That's great news. Hopefully they'll have it sorted for all of us planning to head over in 2013. Plus I think I have up to 6 months on my Irish licence before I would definitely need a Canadian one, so that's a bit more time.

That's great to know, thanks a mill!

retalivity

does that mean those of us who have already started the process of trying to get a canadian license are ineligible, as weve already entered the canadian system?

I believe this is the case...

rusheen

MagicMarker wrote: »

I lived in Sask for a while and was able to get a Canadian license without having to do any test.

Are you serious ? What was the process ? enter canadian registry and hand over irish license did you get sask license right away?

V8_man

that's ridiculous. How are Irish people supposed to know how to drive in snow?

jazzer78

Haha! You obviously haven't been back to Ireland in winter for a long time. I lived in Toronto for 27 years & never experienced such bad winter driving as in the last few winters here. I live in a rural part of Wexford where most of the secondary roads have never seen a snowplough. Things I took for granted when I lived in Toronto, such as putting snow tyres on in Winter, are still considered optional. So, I really think anyone who has driven here in the past few years would be more than able to handle Winter driving conditions in Canada.:)

V8_man

jazzer78 wrote: »

Haha! You obviously haven't been back to Ireland in winter for a long time. I lived in Toronto for 27 years & never experienced such bad winter driving as in the last few winters here. I live in a rural part of Wexford where most of the secondary roads have never seen a snowplough. Things I took for granted when I lived in Toronto, such as putting snow tyres on in Winter, are still considered optional. So, I really think anyone who has driven here in the past few years would be more than able to handle Winter driving conditions in Canada.:)

One of the things I remember about my last winter in Ireland was staying at my old man's place near Callan, and every 100 yards or so there was a car in the ditch - maybe a slight exaggeration but there were a lot we do tend to shut down in the snow, and it wouldn't hurt to have foreigners do some kind of cold weather training here in Canada, or at least - leaving snow out of it entirely - have to take some kind of test considering everything is on the opposite side! four way stop etiquette and how to remember it's ok to turn right on red would be a useful lesson too ! I know I was very glad I took some lessons here....

jazzer78

Yes, there are a lot of windy roads around Callan, so I don't find it surprising that a lot of cars would end up in the ditch in the snow. A written or oral test probably wouldn't be a bad idea though.
Don't forget also, that a lot of Irish go on the continent for holidays & don't have too much of a problem driving on the right & adapting to foreign road regulations. Point taken though.

CBCB2

Yeah I totally agree Jazzer! After all that driving 2 & 3 years ago, I think I'll be ok!!

Anyway a British licence already gets converted to a Canadian one without having to do the test. So I don't see any reason why an Irish one can't be converted without the test. Our weather isn't that different than the UK.

Jonty

V8_man wrote: »

that's ridiculous. How are Irish people supposed to know how to drive in snow?

I don't normally reply to statements such as this, but in fairness, what does it matter?

Its not like part of the test is in snow. If that was the case surely there would be no road tests in the summer months:rolleyes:??

The man in red and black

CBCB2 wrote: »

Yeah I totally agree Jazzer! After all that driving 2 & 3 years ago, I think I'll be ok!!

Anyway a British licence already gets converted to a Canadian one without having to do the test. So I don't see any reason why an Irish one can't be converted without the test. Our weather isn't that different than the UK.

The reason for the United Kingdom licence swap is that the Queen is head of state in both regions. I came here with my full Rep Irl licence, international permit and letters from County Council and insurance company. With that I would be allowed rent a car, drive someone elses car if they had insurance but no insurance company would take me on until I did the full test here in Ontario. Luckily I passed it and was able to get insurance but they then refused to acknowledge my driving experience in Ireland for the past 6 years as it's on the left hand side! So I had to be insured as a 24 year old male who passed his test two days previously. High enough quote as you can imagine! Be careful who you get it with though because one company quoted me $5000 more than the other guys!!! :O RIDICULOUS!

As for swapping your licence for a UK licence before going over, I looked into that a bit. If you'd then only have your UK licence for a few months before trying to swap it for an Ontario one then they won't accept that and you'll be back to the start.

For now the best thing is if you have more than 2 years full driving exp then get the letter from your County Council, do the driver theory test in Ontario to get the G1, you can skip the mandatory waiting period for the G2 exit test(full licence test) and do it straight away. I strongly recommend gettting at least a couple of hours of lessons. Parallel parking is examined and that's not examinable in ROI. Also they want you checking mirrors with noticeable head movements every five seconds! Be careful as if you fail the full driving test I believe you're stuck on the learners permit for a year before you can try the full test again. Which means being accompanied while driving for 12 months!

Best of luck and let us know how you get on!

robclay26

I exchanged my Full Irish to a full Canadian licence in New Brunswick in January 2010. No problems at all, cost me $80. No tests, nothing.


if you move address you have to get your licence reissued because your address is displayed on it. There is no charge for change of address (the print a new licence, same expiry etc, just changed the address)

iamstop

I've only had my full Irish a few months, moving to Manitoba in 2 weeks, what will my story be?

CBCB2

The man in red and black wrote: »

The reason for the United Kingdom licence swap is that the Queen is head of state in both regions. I came here with my full Rep Irl licence, international permit and letters from County Council and insurance company. With that I would be allowed rent a car, drive someone elses car if they had insurance but no insurance company would take me on until I did the full test here in Ontario. Luckily I passed it and was able to get insurance but they then refused to acknowledge my driving experience in Ireland for the past 6 years as it's on the left hand side! So I had to be insured as a 24 year old male who passed his test two days previously. High enough quote as you can imagine! Be careful who you get it with though because one company quoted me $5000 more than the other guys!!! :O RIDICULOUS!

As for swapping your licence for a UK licence before going over, I looked into that a bit. If you'd then only have your UK licence for a few months before trying to swap it for an Ontario one then they won't accept that and you'll be back to the start.

For now the best thing is if you have more than 2 years full driving exp then get the letter from your County Council, do the driver theory test in Ontario to get the G1, you can skip the mandatory waiting period for the G2 exit test(full licence test) and do it straight away. I strongly recommend gettting at least a couple of hours of lessons. Parallel parking is examined and that's not examinable in ROI. Also they want you checking mirrors with noticeable head movements every five seconds! Be careful as if you fail the full driving test I believe you're stuck on the learners permit for a year before you can try the full test again. Which means being accompanied while driving for 12 months!

Best of luck and let us know how you get on!

That's great, loads of information, thanks. I thought as much that converting to a UK licence could just be the long way round and ending up with the same result. I've heard that before about the insurance.

I'll just have to get on the ball as soon as I get over and hopefully I'll get the test in the first six months and that will be that. I'll definitely get lessons for sure. As much just to know what they watch out for.

Getting used to all those stop signs won't be easy!!! hehe!!

thanks for all the help everyone. All I need now is the IEC to open for 2013 so I can get over and start taking the test!!

donkey balls

A mate of mine went over last year as he got work doing long distance truck driving,The problem he faced was having to redo some of the truck tests which would cost approx $3000CAD the way he did it was to apply to the DVLA(UK licencing authority) through his friend in the UK.
Now in order for him to do that he used his friends address and had the DVLA post out the application form and he then sent his licence to his friends address who posted it back to the DVLA,I had/have a chance to head over and was going use my mates address in the north but the DVLA wont allow this.;)

Kippure

againstthetide wrote: »

People recommend switching to a UK license so you don't have to do the test here.
That's the only benefit, the UK license is a straight swap while the IRish one requires you to do the test.
Your Irish NCB will be recognized over here once you have the letters from your insurers
What province are you moving to?

Where do i go to swap my irish licence to a british licence?

donkey balls

Kippure wrote: »

Where do i go to swap my irish licence to a british licence?

Check out my post above;)

gary27

Kippure wrote: »

Where do i go to swap my irish licence to a british licence?

Correct me if I'm wrong but don't you have to have the british licence for a certain period of time before you can do a straight swap for a Canadian one.

I pulled some information with regard to Alberta and driving with a irish licence,
site link http://www.servicealberta.ca/1741.cfm

Visitors to Alberta

If you are visiting Alberta from outside the country, you must have your valid home jurisdiction drivers licence and an International Drivers Permit to drive on Alberta roads. You may drive in Alberta up to 1 year.

If you are visiting Alberta from another province, you may drive using your home jurisdiction licence.

meehan12345

im on the same boat meself driving with full licence for about 5 years will i have to do the test

againstthetide

Yes you will unless you live.in Saskatchewan

meehan12345

alrite im probably gonna be going to toronto so ill have to do that test so,how much does it cost to do the test

retalivity

$125 in Ontario. You're going to need to provide proof of your irish driving history to jump straight to a G test, and if you fail, you've got to start at the bottom of the canadian driving system

davybrown

I have my uk driving license about 7months. When i arrive in canada, will i still be able to change to a canadian one? Even with such little driving experience.

littlemiss maevie

Where can i get a letter of driving experience? I know someone who got a letter from the tax office and that worked but Ive never taxed a car in my own name. I've always been a named driver on someone elses car.
I've had a full license for over 2 years and apparantely that means I can do the theory and driven test together rather than going through the whole system, is this right?

retalivity

you get it from your local authority that issued it, the county or city council i believe

mcerc

donkey balls wrote: »

A mate of mine went over last year as he got work doing long distance truck driving,The problem he faced was having to redo some of the truck tests which would cost approx $3000CAD the way he did it was to apply to the DVLA(UK licencing authority) through his friend in the UK.
Now in order for him to do that he used his friends address and had the DVLA post out the application form and he then sent his licence to his friends address who posted it back to the DVLA,I had/have a chance to head over and was going use my mates address in the north but the DVLA wont allow this.;)

Did this work Donkey Balls?

dublintone

I arrived in Newfoundland and was told by my new company's insurance that I could do a straight swap. The person I spoke to was wrong and now I have realized that my international licence is only valid for 3 months from date if arrival. So I now have to sit the theory test and apply for the driving test and wait for that to come around too. If at all possible try and get a UK or northern Ireland licence to save you a lot of grief when you get here as Jo where is open on a Saturday or Sunday and if your working time off may not be available during the week as is the case with me.

DAVIDDOLAN

Can anybody help me with this. Are you able to get a learners permit in Canada that will allow me to drive if you are there on a 2 year working visa. I don,t have my full licence yet in Ireland but I do have my learners permit though. I will atry and get my full licence here before I go over but if I don't will I be able to do the learners permit in Canada and then try and get the full licence over there.

hungryharry

anybody know if you can swap a truck licence in alberta?

againstthetide

Nope you'll need to do the test
http://www.servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/1671.cfm

donkey balls

hungryharry wrote: »

anybody know if you can swap a truck licence in alberta?

Or try and exchange it for a UK licence not an NI and you will be grand,Although I think my mate still had to do some other tests while there but not the complete driving test.

ck24

Not sure if this has been posted here before but it looks like we should be able to swap our irish licenses for a canadian one in some province's this year, including Ontario. Deal expected to go ahead early this year according to the independent.ie

http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/motoring/driving-licence-deal-with-canadian-cities-on-cards-for-2014-29876373.html

The man in red and black

donkey balls wrote: »

Or try and exchange it for a UK licence not an NI and you will be grand,Although I think my mate still had to do some other tests while there but not the complete driving test.

Not sure this would actually work unless you swapped it for a UK one a couple of years in advance. To swap a UK one for Canadian, in Ontario anyway, you needed to have had the UK one for something like two years. Can't remember the exact number but I looked into it before going out and it wasn't feasible.

GrumPy

Anyone experience with someone potentially planning on buying a car in Canada that has a full Irish license (7+)? I may never actually buy one over there, but I'd like the option at least...
Seems to be some mixed information online. I'll be in BC (Vancouver).

CBCB2

GrumPy wrote: »

Anyone experience with someone potentially planning on buying a car in Canada that has a full Irish license (7+)? I may never actually buy one over there, but I'd like the option at least...
Seems to be some mixed information online. I'll be in BC (Vancouver).

I can't help you with BC but in Ontario I had to do a theory test (it's 40 questions there's loads of online examples, I did the online practice tests and got 40 out of 40, it's grand!).

Then based on my Irish driving experience (I think you have to have 2 years), I had a letter from Donegal County Council stating what dates my provisional and full licences were issued and that I had no endorsements on my licence. So they let me skip the G2 test and go straight to the G. (If I couldn't skip you've to do the G2 and wait 2 years before you can do the G test. The G2 test is a city driving test and the G is a city and Highway driving test. If you only have G2 you're not allowed to drive on the highway).

Once I got it I was able to buy a car no problem. A point to note although legally I could drive on my Irish licence here for a year until I needed a Canadian one, I couldn't get an insurance company who would insure me if I bought a car. So I had to get a Canadian licence to get insurance.

I'm sure the process is roughly similar in BC. But if you plan on getting a car without converting your licence definitely look into the insurance first.

Also be prepared for it to be much higher than Ireland. They only good thing is they expect you to pay monthly so there's no annual fee expectation.

fergusb

GrumPy wrote: »

Anyone experience with someone potentially planning on buying a car in Canada that has a full Irish license (7+)? I may never actually buy one over there, but I'd like the option at least...
Seems to be some mixed information online. I'll be in BC (Vancouver).

As CBCB2 mentions the process in BC is similar to Ontario. Since you've had an Irish license for over 2 years. You first need to sit the theory test. Which is straight forward (some slightly confusing questions). At this point you must forfeit your Irish license. You then need to sit you "Class 5" test. Standard enough road test. Assuming you pass you get your Class 5 license. Which is the full license. (Class 7, is the novice license which you have for 2 years. but is skipped by having the irish license).

Remember you will lose your irish license getting a Canadian one. And legally you cannot drive on an Irish license after 3 months in BC.

In terms of buying a car, insurance is high, and its all controlled by 1 company (ICBC). Depending what you plan to use the car for makes a big difference. Personally I don't use it for commuting, so for weekends I rent a car. And I am also a member of 2 car co-ops (car2go and Modo). Which are brilliant for day trips and shorter. Definitely not as handy as owning but I reckon cheaper in my experience.

CBCB2

I didn't have to give up my Irish licence to get my Canadian one. I have both. But I do think this may have been an oversight as the girl who sorted my application wasn't sure what she was doing!!

Jonty

GrumPy wrote: »

Anyone experience with someone potentially planning on buying a car in Canada that has a full Irish license (7+)? I may never actually buy one over there, but I'd like the option at least...
Seems to be some mixed information online. I'll be in BC (Vancouver).

To buy a car you need a Canadian Licence. The car registration is tied to the license number

The man in red and black

CBCB2 wrote: »

I didn't have to give up my Irish licence to get my Canadian one. I have both. But I do think this may have been an oversight as the girl who sorted my application wasn't sure what she was doing!!

I also have both, based in Ontario. They never mentioned needing to surrender the Irish licence

GrumPy

GrumPy wrote: »

Anyone experience with someone potentially planning on buying a car in Canada that has a full Irish license (7+)? I may never actually buy one over there, but I'd like the option at least...
Seems to be some mixed information online. I'll be in BC (Vancouver).

I bought one, insurance will be about 170 a month depending on the car you get unless you provide proof of your Driving record. You'll pay tax on top of the purchase whether it's second hand or not. Your license won't be a straight swap but you can do the theory test and Driving test all in one go without the waiting period. I'm in Vancouver since June

Jonty

Jonty wrote: »

To buy a car you need a Canadian Licence. The car registration is tied to the license number

Not true! I didn't need one and I've a Subaru Impreza in the driveway

Son

Sacramento wrote: »

Not true! I didn't need one and I've a Subaru Impreza in the driveway

Edit: Sorry,misread your post.

So you can do the theory test and practical in one day? Do you know the waiting times?

Also can you tell me who your insured with? I was going to apply for the test straight away but if you can get insured on an Irish licence then I may do that depending on the cost ie: I presume its a good bit cheaper on canadian licence

Thanks