Alberta Eliminates Driving Test, Probationary Fees for Young Drivers With Clean Record

Cars wait in line to go through US customs at the Rainbow Bridge between Niagara Falls, New York and cross the border to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada on August 13, 2022. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

Young drivers in Alberta aged 18 and over are now able to exit the province’s graduated driver’s licence program without taking a driver’s test or paying fees, and automatically get an upgraded licence.

Effective June 25, “drivers no longer have to take a drivers test and pay a $154 fee to exit the graduated driver’s licence (GDL) program if they have a clean driving record,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in a tweet.

GDL drivers with good driving behaviour will see their licence automatically upgraded, which according to the province, will save new drivers time and money.

“GDL drivers who have completed their 24-month driving period and have no suspensions or demerits within their last 12 months of probation, including zero tolerance for any alcohol and/or drug consumption, will receive a letter informing them of the change in their driver’s licence status to non-GDL,” said a June 26 government news release.

Devin Dreeshen, newly appointed minister of transportation and economic corridors, said the program will benefit as many as 500,000 young Albertans with clean driving records who will now not have to pay $154 and “waste their time” taking another driving test to have a full licence.

“GDL was an expensive, duplicative licensing scheme that discriminated against good young drivers,” said Dreeshen.

“There are close to half a million drivers who will benefit from this. These changes will help GDL drivers exit the program and apply for other classes of driver’s licences whether it’s for a semi-truck, gravel truck or bus.”

Automatic Upgrading

As of June 25, the Alberta government is using technology to automatically exit eligible Albertans with safe driving records to an upgraded licence.

Drivers are not legally required to obtain a new licence card when their GDL period ends. They may do so if they prefer, but they will be required to pay registry fees as of June 25. Drivers who don’t obtain a new licence card will have their physical licence upgraded the next time they renew their driver’s licence, according to the government.

Drivers who require a class 1, 2, 3, or 4 licence to drive commercially cannot hold a GDL license and previously were charged the fee to upgrade to a full licence.

If a driver does not have a clean driving record and has demerits, suspensions, or received tickets for unsafe driving offences in the last year of their probation, the GDL probationary period will be extended for an additional year.

Approximately 200,000 Albertans will remain in the GDL program, and about 500,000 were eligible to upgrade their licence under the new rules as of April 1.

So far, approximately 150,000 GDL drivers have exited the program since April 1 through the interim process, allowing those with an urgent need to exit the program–needing a non-GDL licence for a job, for example–were able to go to a motor vehicle registry office to confirm their eligibility to exit the program.

If the registry agent determined a driver was eligible, they exchanged the GDL licence free of charge.

The GDL program was introduced in 2003, putting all new drivers on a 24-month probation and requiring an advanced road test to upgrade to a full licence. Over the past five years, according to government data, about 65 percent of drivers did not take their advanced road test and 99 percent of motorcycle riders did not take the test.