Canadian Road Test Day Checklist

Your road test is mostly about showing that you can drive safely and calmly without help. Most of the stress on the day comes from surprises: a missing document, a warning light on the dashboard, or not knowing what the examiner will do. This guide walks you through the day in order, using the official instructions from each province. Rules change, so always check your booking confirmation and your testing body’s website as well.

Last reviewed: November 2, 2026.

Your province at a glance

In the days before

• Check your booking. Confirm the centre’s address, date and time, and the test class. Some provinces have more than one office in the same town, and some offices move, so use the address on your confirmation, not one from memory.
• Practice the kinds of roads you’ll be tested on. Examiners look for safe habits, not tricks. Practice turns at busy intersections, lane changes with shoulder checks, full stops behind the line, school zones, and parking (parallel parking and backing up are on many tests). The practice route on your centre’s page is a good way to get used to the local roads, but your examiner may use different streets.
• Ontario G test only: you’ll sign a Declaration of Highway Driving Experience listing how often you’ve driven on a freeway or a highway posted at 80 km/h or more in the last three months. If you don’t have enough highway experience, the examiner must cancel the test and you lose half of the prepaid fee. Get that highway practice in first.
• Learn how your car’s driver aids switch off. Ontario doesn’t allow electronic driving aids during the test, such as automatic parallel parking, lane monitoring, cruise control and backup cameras. In British Columbia, you must turn off any driver-assistance features if you can. Either way, you’re expected to do your own mirror and shoulder checks.
• Know the cancellation rules. In Ontario and British Columbia, cancel or reschedule at least 48 hours ahead, or you pay a fee ($25 in B.C.). In Nova Scotia, cancelling with less than 48 hours’ notice means you pay again when you rebook. In Saskatchewan, missing a test without cancelling means you pay for the rescheduled one.

Get the car test-ready

You supply the car in every province, and the examiner checks it before you drive. If it isn’t safe or legal, the test is cancelled or rescheduled. Saskatchewan’s and British Columbia’s published checklists cover the common problems:

• Lights and signals: headlights, brake lights and turn signals all work, with no badly cracked or missing lenses.
• Horn, wipers and defrost work.
• Seat belts work and aren’t frayed. Airbags are fine, and there are no warning lights on the dashboard that affect safety.
• Windshield and windows: no cracks that block your view, no stickers, and no aftermarket tint on the windshield or front side windows.
• Doors: the driver’s and front passenger’s doors open and close properly.
• Tires are safe, and the speedometer works.
• Licence plate: a valid plate is attached. In B.C. it must be a Canadian plate, and you’ll be asked for the plate number at the counter.
• Paperwork: the car is registered and insured, and you have proof of both. Nova Scotia also asks for proof of a valid motor vehicle inspection.
• Fuel or charge: enough for the whole test.
• Inside: the car is clean and free of strong scents, with nothing loose that could be a safety risk.
• Manitoba: the front passenger-seat headrest must be in working order.

If your windshield is cracked and you’re unsure, Saskatchewan suggests asking an examiner to look at it before your test day. If you’re borrowing a car-share vehicle in B.C., you need an original signed letter from the company authorizing it for the road test.

The night before: what to bring

Put everything in one place. Bring originals: several provinces turn you away if something is missing or photocopied.

• Your current licence or permit: your learner’s licence, or G1/G2 in Ontario.
• Photo ID. In B.C., bring the same ID you used for your learner’s licence, one primary and one secondary piece.
• Vehicle registration and proof of insurance. New Brunswick wants a signed registration, and accepts a digital insurance card.
• Driving school certificate, if you took an approved course. Saskatchewan needs it if your training isn’t already on your SGI file.
• Payment or proof of payment. In B.C. you pay the test fee when you arrive; in New Brunswick, bring proof you’ve already paid.
• Your accompanying driver, if your province requires one. You can’t drive yourself there on a learner’s licence:
  • Ontario G1: an accompanying driver must come with you.
  • New Brunswick: a licensed driver with at least three years’ experience and a valid Class 5 (or equivalent) licence.
  • Manitoba: a supervising driver for check-in.
• Glasses or contact lenses, if you need them to drive.

Getting there

• Leave early. Ontario asks you to arrive at least 30 minutes before the appointment, and B.C. and Manitoba ask for 15 minutes. Saskatchewan reschedules you if you’re late.
• Drive there calmly, with your accompanying driver. This isn’t the time for last-minute coaching. Agree beforehand that the drive will be quiet.
• Ontario G2 drivers: have another way home. If you fail the G test, you may not be qualified to drive yourself home.
• Plan to park legally. Some centres are in busy plazas, so give yourself time to find a spot.

At the centre

• Check in.
  • In Saskatchewan, park, turn the car off and stay inside. If you signed up for texts, text “Here”, and keep your phone on with the ringer or vibrate on. The examiner calls you at your appointment time, asks a few questions, then comes out to meet you.
  • Elsewhere, you usually check in at the counter first.
• Vehicle check. The examiner walks around the car and checks the items listed above, and may ask you to work the signals, brake lights and horn.
• The briefing. The examiner explains how the test works, tells you how long it will take (Ontario tests have a set time frame), and gives directions in good time before each turn. Ask your questions now: examiners can’t coach you once the test starts.
• It’s just you and the examiner. No passengers or pets are allowed, including driving instructors, friends, family, children or translators. Your supervising driver waits inside (Saskatchewan asks them to use the waiting room rather than the parking lot).
• In B.C., you can ask for a driver examiner of a particular gender when you check in, with no reason needed. If they can’t arrange it that day, you can reschedule with no late-cancellation fee.

During the test

The examiner gives directions and watches how you handle each task. They won’t try to trick you, and they won’t ask you to do anything illegal. If you miss an instruction, ask them to repeat it rather than guessing.

What’s usually tested (from Saskatchewan’s and Ontario’s official lists):

• starting, stopping, and pulling away from the curb
• left and right turns at controlled and uncontrolled intersections
• obeying signs, signals and road markings
• lane driving and lane changes, with mirror and shoulder checks
• speed choice, following distance and steering control
• backing up, parallel parking, and two- or three-point turns
• spotting hazards early (in B.C., you’re asked to call out hazards you see, such as blind driveways)
• Ontario G test: expressway driving, including merging on and off, plus intersections, turns, curves and business areas

Habits examiners look for:

• Full stops. Stop behind the stop line. If there isn’t one, stop at the crosswalk; if there’s no crosswalk, at the edge of the sidewalk or intersection. Don’t roll, and don’t back up if you’ve stopped past the line.
• Look before you go. Scan left, ahead and right before entering an intersection, even on a green light.
• Shoulder-check every time. Check your blind spot before lane changes and before turning right across a bike lane or crosswalk.
• Signal at the right time. Signal before you slow for a turn, but not so early that drivers think you’re turning into an earlier driveway.
• Keep your space. Leave a two- to three-second gap behind the car ahead. When stopped behind another car, leave enough room to pull around it.
• Keep your wheels straight while waiting to turn left, so you aren’t pushed into oncoming traffic if you’re hit from behind.
• Watch your speed in school and playground zones. ICBC says speeding through them is a common reason people fail.
• Drive at the posted limit. Don’t keep up with speeding traffic.

How it’s scored: examiners mark your driving on a score sheet or tablet. In Alberta, more than 75 points on the Class 5 test is a fail, and endangering a pedestrian or another driver, driving unsafely or breaking a traffic law is an automatic fail.

After the test

• You’ll get your result right away. The examiner goes over your performance, points out any errors and answers your questions. In B.C. and New Brunswick, you also get specific feedback on what to work on.
• If you pass: you usually complete your licence at the counter. In Alberta and Nova Scotia, that means taking your results to a registry or Registry of Motor Vehicles office. You get a temporary licence until your card arrives in the mail.
• If you don’t pass: read the feedback, practice those specific skills, then rebook.
  • In Nova Scotia, you can book another test from the next day.
  • In New Brunswick and Saskatchewan, you pay the test fee again.
  • Ontario lets you retest as long as your G1 hasn’t expired.

Official sources

• Alberta: Driver’s road test and Get a Class 5 driver’s licence
• British Columbia (ICBC): Prepare for your road test appointment, Book a road test, Graduated Licensing Program changes and Preparing for your driver licensing tests (PDF)
• Manitoba (MPI): Testing for your Class 5 licence
• New Brunswick: Driver licence testing and Driver’s licence testing requirements (PDF)
• Nova Scotia: Book a Road Test and Reschedule a Road Test
• Ontario: Official MTO Driver’s Handbook – Getting your driver’s licence, Level Two road test and Get a G driver’s licence
• Saskatchewan (SGI): Before the examination and Your test