Ontario road tests: the G2 and G drive tests

The two tests side by side

At full-time DriveTest Centres, the G test currently leaves out parallel parking, roadside stops, 3-point turns and residential streets, because the G2 test already covered them. Part-time Travel Point locations still give the standard G test, which can include them.

Every road test has a set time. The examiner tells you how long you have before you start, and explains what will happen. Ask your questions then, because they’re not allowed to coach you once you’re driving.

Booking through DriveTest

The ministry and DriveTest don’t charge anything to book a road test. Be wary of sites that sell bookings or promise you’ll pass.

1. Check you’ve held your licence long enough. You also need to wait at least 10 days between road tests.
2. Book online at drivetest.ca, by phone at 647-776-0331 or 1-888-570-6110, or in person at any DriveTest Centre.
3. Pay the fee when you book. You can’t hold a time without prepaying.
4. Need to change it? Cancel or move it at least 48 hours ahead. With less notice, or if you don’t show up, you lose the fee.

What car to bring, and who comes with you

If the car doesn’t meet the standard, the test is called “out-of-order” and you lose half the fee. To rebook, you pay that half again.

Only you and the examiner ride along. No instructors, friends, relatives, translators or pets. For the G2 test you still hold a G1, so a fully licensed driver has to bring you. For the G test, have a way home in case you don’t pass.

• You bring the car. DriveTest doesn’t lend one, but it can be yours, borrowed or rented.
• It has to be a Class G vehicle that’s in good working order, plated and insured. Low-speed vehicles aren’t allowed.
• You can’t use driving aids like a back camera, lane monitoring, cruise control or self-parking. The examiner wants to see your own mirror and shoulder checks.
• Dashcams and phone cameras must be off. If one can’t be switched off, you have to confirm it isn’t recording inside the car or pointing at the examiner.
• Bring your glasses or contacts if you need them to drive, and arrive at least 30 minutes early.

Before the G test: your highway experience

Before the G test you fill in a Declaration of Highway Driving Experience. It asks how many times in the last three months you’ve driven on a 400-series highway or a road with a speed limit of at least 80 km/h, and how long those trips usually were.

If you don’t have enough, the examiner has to cancel the test as out-of-order, and you lose half the fee. So get the highway practice in first, with your G2 you’re allowed on any road.

Where marks get lost

DriveTest and the ministry don’t publish a list of the most common reasons people fail. What the handbook does give is the list of actions the examiner watches on every task. These are the ones it keeps coming back to:

• Looking all around, with mirrors and a shoulder check, before you slow down, turn or change lanes
• Signalling before you slow down, not as you turn
• Coming to a full stop behind the stop line, without rolling
• Keeping a gap of at least two to three seconds behind the car ahead
• Both hands on the wheel through a turn, and wheels straight while you wait to turn left
• Moving off within four to five seconds once it’s safe, and finishing the turn in the matching lane