Before some residents can hit the road, many are having to wait online to book a road test or in-person outside of a DriveTest Centre.
In June, the provincial government lifted restrictions on in-vehicle passenger road testing, but driving centres are working through a backlog of cancellations, including 17,838 cancelled road tests in Guelph alone.
Province-wide there were around 700,000 road tests cancelled since the pandemic began, said the Ministry of Transportation.
In an email statement, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation said six new temporary driving centres will be opened across Ontario, including in Guelph, Hamilton and Waterloo Region, which will be located within a 30-minute drive of a current centre. These centres will operate seven days a week at extended hours.
The Ministry also said the province is in the process of hiring 84 new temporary driving instructors to help deal with the backlog. All examiners will be hired by September 2021.
With these new measures, the ministry expects to clear the backlog of cancelled tests by March 2022.
“Nobody is getting appointments,” said one driving instructor outside Guelph's Woodlawn Road DriveTest Centre on Wednesday. “We don’t know, either, what to do.”
Viquar Husain, an independent driving instructor from Georgetown Driving School, said the current system isn’t working for dealing with the backlog.
“If they’re open anywhere it’s gone in a matter of a few minutes, that’s nothing,” said Husain of booking online. “They’re completely unprepared and it’s unbelievable.”
“Parents keep calling me, texting me, emailing me, nothing for G1 and G2, I don’t know what the plan is.”
With limited spots available across the province, some are choosing to go to nearby cities, or drive even farther to get a test done. On Wednesday, some of the people in line mention coming all the way in from Brampton.
“It took me a lot to get this appointment,” said one Brampton resident who applied online and took time off work to go do their road test.
Kyra Williams of Etobicoke was able to book a road test in Guelph and is trying to get her G2.
“She said they had opened one day early and that’s why I was able to get in,” said Williams, who finished driving school a week prior. “I’m just trying to get through today.”
Another person waiting outside the centre is Yousif Sultan from Hamilton. Sultan said he had friends who were able to book him a road test in Guelph.
With 32 years of driving experience outside of Canada, Sultan said it has been a frustrating process to get his G licence since coming to this country four years ago, especially during the pandemic.
“I hope to pass it,” he said.
