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Nova Scotia · Learner’s test

The Nova Scotia Driver’s Handbook for your learner’s test

The Nova Scotia Driver’s Handbook is the book the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) tells you to review before the Knowledge Test. It’s a PDF on the province’s website, and the handbook says everything you need to pass is inside. Some of it is older than the RMV’s web pages and the rule changes of October 19, 2026, so read it alongside them.

  • 8Chapters, from licences to motorcycles
  • 2017Last reprint year printed in the handbook
  • $9.75Printed copy at RMV offices, tax included
Open the handbook PDF

Updated November 2026 · Written from official sources, listed at the bottom of this page

Where can you get the Nova Scotia Driver’s Handbook?

Online, as a PDF. The RMV links it from its Knowledge Test page, and the province lists it with its other driving documents.

Prefer paper? The RMV’s permit directory page says printed copies are at regional libraries and at the offices that handle learner’s licences, for $9.75 with tax.

What each chapter covers

The RMV doesn’t say which chapters the questions come from. This is what each one is about:

  • Chapter 1, Your Driver’s Licence: the learner’s licence, the GDL (Graduated Driver Licensing) stages, demerit points and licence classes
  • Chapter 2, Rules of the Road: signals, right of way, speed, turning, passing, parking, roundabouts and sharing the road
  • Chapter 3, Signs, Pavement Markings, and Work Zones: what highway signs and road lines mean
  • Chapter 4, Safety: your vehicle, passengers and safe driving tips
  • Chapter 5, Adverse Driving Conditions: night, weather, emergencies and collisions
  • Chapter 6, Driving and Impairment: alcohol, drugs, fatigue and fitness to drive
  • Chapter 7, Vehicle Registration and Insurance
  • Chapter 8, Motorcycles

Chapter 8 is for motorcycle learners, who take a separate Knowledge Test on the rules for safe motorcycle driving.

Motorcycle licence steps →

Read the update pages first

The handbook opens with four pages on changes made after it was printed. They cover the third GDL stage, the restricted individual stage, added on April 1, 2015; a learner’s licence that lasts 2 years instead of 1; slowing to 60 km/h and moving over for a stopped emergency vehicle; and yielding to transit buses.

Some chapter text is older than those pages and the RMV’s web pages. Chapter 1, for example, gives shorter waits before the road test than the RMV’s graduated licensing page, which says 12 months, or 9 with recognized driver education. Where they differ, go by the RMV’s web pages.

Rules that changed on October 19, 2026

Nova Scotia’s Traffic Safety Act took effect on October 19, 2026 and replaced the Motor Vehicle Act. The handbook was written under the old Act, and the province keeps a page of what changed. These are some of the changes it lists for everyday driving:

  • Park within 30 centimetres of the curb, not 15
  • Traffic going either way stops for a school bus with flashing red lights, but not on the other side of a divided highway with a physical median
  • When you pass a cyclist, leave at least 1 metre, even when they’re in an unprotected bike lane
  • Open a car door only when the vehicle is stopped and it’s safe and clear, and don’t leave it open longer than needed

The RMV’s Knowledge Test page lists the Traffic Safety Act as its related law and describes the same two parts of 20 multiple-choice questions.

See the Traffic Safety Act changes ↗

Other ways to study

The handbook is the only study material the RMV names. The study page compares driving schools and practice apps, the road signs page shows the signs by group, and the online test page explains the webcam and computer you need at home.

Compare study options →See the road signs →Take the test online →
Sources: Government of Nova Scotia and 6 more. Checked November 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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