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AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION
OTTAWA
MEDIA RELEASE
RECOGNITION OF AUSTRALIAN DRIVER’S LICENCES IN ONTARIO
12 November 2009
Australians living in Ontario will soon be able to exchange their Australian driver’s licence for an Ontario licence.
On 9 November, the Ontario Minister of Transportation, Jim Bradley, confirmed that the provincial authorities had completed the process of establishing the equivalence of Australian licences, and had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Australia that confirmed the recognition of Australian driver’s licences by the Government of Ontario.
At present, Australians residing in Ontario are only able to drive legally in the province using their Australian licence for a period of sixty days, but after that period are required to undertake written and practical driving tests. The new agreement will enable holders of Australian driver’s licences to simply swap their licence for an Ontario driver’s licence, without any testing.
Minister Bradley indicated that he is aiming for the implementation of the MoU to take place in the near future.
It is estimated that there are almost 8,000 Australian expatriates currently living in Ontario, and in total more than 18,000 Australians throughout Canada.
The Australian Government is seeking to conclude similar agreements on the recognition of driver’s licences with other Canadian jurisdictions provinces. Such agreements are valuable in facilitating the two way movement of skilled personnel between Australia and Canada and promoting commercial links.
Driver’s licences from all Canadian provinces and territories have been fully recognised in all Australian jurisdictions for some time.