Inter-province Driver Licensing question
 

You know when you move to another province and need the new province driver license, you have to give them your previous province DL in exchange for the new province DL...
For example, if you move from Province A to Province B, province B will take your Province A DL away before they give you your Prov. B DL.

Anyone knows in these cases, does Province B MTO actually TELL province A MTO that this driver has switched to another province and ask prov. A MTO to cancel his Prov. A DL?
Or Prov. B simply hold the Prov. A license and do nothing with it?

bottom line - I want to know if I switch my BC driver license to another province, would my ICBC 5% per year discount still continue or it would stop once I switch my DL since the new province will tell ICBC i have switched.

Btw MTO = Ministry of Transportation / driver licensing office

i would call icbc and ask directly

Don't know how it works on other provinces, but for Out-of-Province DL's, a person's driving history should carry on over to his new BCDL. Provided his driving history is supported by proper documentation.

I would imagine it works the other way around too.

i switched my class 5 BC DL to a MTO's G class licence 4 years ago.
they made me forfeit my BC licence and I received my Ontario licence on the spot.

BUT when i came back to BC to visit, i got pulled over for speeding. after checking out my insurance (my mom's car) she told me that my BC licence was still valid and not cancelled. she had it cancelled and reduced the fine (yeay) so MTO doesn't do jack shit for you. you should call icbc and tell them you are switching your licence.

and you should explain your situation in more detail. if you get a driver's licence from a different province, i'm pretty sure you can't insure your car with icbc anymore. so no, you won't be able to receive your 5% discount. however, if you bring your ICBC record to prove that you have been receiving discounts due to your excellent driving record, then i'm sure the insurance company that you chose to go with will give you their own discount (not sure if they will match the 5%)

hope it helps.

That actually helps!
But my point is that I DON"T want ICBC to know that i have forfeited my BC license and cancel it. Reason I would like to keep my BC license is that in the future if I decide to move back to BC, I can enjoy more of the 5%/ year discount.

The ICBC discount is 5% for every year you have a valid license, you don't need an active insurance policy to get the 5% / year discount.

What I want to do is basically keep 2 VALID driver license from 2 different province at the same time...from what you have said, it seems that possible.

Regardless of whether you're driving an insured vehicle in BC or Newfound Land, provided you can get records from out-of-province proving you had their license for X-amount of time, it gets added to your ICBC discount. I think if you have any accidents, it may affect your rate, however.

A friend of mine moved out here from Ontario and he started out with a fairly substantial discount because he had records faxed over proving he was driving for a number of years.

just like lomac said...

when i moved to bc i supplied icbc with insurance records from newfoundland & alberta and they gave me 40% discount...

it was amazing considering i had a 50% surchage in alberta :)

icbc rocks!

You dont have to forfeit your license from provinces when you move out.
As long as you have valid govt ID, they will issue you a license. If you can prove you have a good track record, then they will give you a discount.

It is illegal to hold and DL from anywhere else and obtain a BC DL. I would imagine the other Provinces have the same legislation. If you are a BC resident then you must hold a BC DL. IF you are "ordnarily resident" in BC you need a BC DL. In other words, it is not legal to hold a BC DL and live in any other place. If you do, you are NOT a BC resident & need to get their DL. You cannot keep your BC DL because you might be coming back. If you don't believe me, check with your insurance agent and see if they will honour your coverage if you are not living where your DL is issued and IF they will cover you when you have a crash. There is case law in BC for exactly that. Private insurance are a lot more strict than ICBC.

BC Motor Vehicle Act (24 (4) If the applicant for a driver's licence has at any time before making the application held a driver's licence issued under this Act or in another jurisdiction, the applicant must with the application surrender the last driver's licence or duplicate of it held by him or her, unless the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia on cause shown to the corporation's satisfaction dispenses with its production.

(5) At the same time that he or she has a driver's licence issued under this Act, a person must not have a driver's licence issued by another jurisdiction or have another driver's licence previously issued under this Act.