Despite the reopening of G2 and G tests in Ontario, new drivers still may be out of luck when trying to book their road test.
On June 11, the Ministry of Transportation announced the reopening of road tests in Ontario. This announcement marked the first in-person evaluations since their closure on April 3. Although tests are resuming across the province, if you’re looking to book one anytime soon, you may be out of luck.
Unfortunately for many new drivers, the thousands of cancelled road tests due to COVID-19 have created a backlog. This has pushed bookings back for several months.
According to the Ministry of Transportation, they are increasing the funding by 16 million in order to increase capacity, but they still need to address the massive backlog for now.
For 21-year-old Toronto resident, Christian Romualdo, these cancellations could not have come at a worse time.
“For someone working in the film industry, it’s so important to have a license,”
Romualdo is a student at Ryerson University in the RTA Media Production program. As a producer, it is essential for him to drive to and from the film sets he is working on.
“I’d love to have my license now. Thankfully I’ve got my brother staying with me so he can drive me around. I really would like have my license though,”
Romualdo ran into even more problems when booking a test. Although he selected a date in July, he was assigned a date all the way in November.
“Registration was online, I had to pick which date I wanted, which centre I wanted. It’s annoying because, picking a date doesn’t really matter, since you’re gonna end up with a random day in November or whatever,”
What should you do?
Unfortunately, even if you aren’t able to book a road test in the near future, if you do not have your license, or it is expired, it is illegal to drive. Many drivers are searching for a solution to this problem, however, the only option is to wait for your test date.
Officer Brett Moore of the Toronto Police Service acknowledges the inconvenience, but states that there aren’t many options for these drivers.
“It’s one of those things where the key message has to be, your license status still stands. Regardless of whether or not your test has been cancelled. Don’t take a chance, follow the rules that you’ve been following all along,”
During the pandemic, much has changed, and Moore says that this is just one of the many sacrifices people have had to make.
“This is just an unforeseen consequence of COVID. Unfortunately we have to deal with these circumstances. There’s nothing that can be done other than wait for your test.”
Currently, you can book a test on the DriveTest website, but as stated in the article, it is difficult to find an appointment anytime soon.
