Keeping your licence
Ontario has a one-piece driver’s licence. The licence card has a photograph and signature of the driver. All drivers in Ontario should have a one-piece licence card. You must carry your licence with you whenever you drive.
Renewing your licence
When your licence is due for renewal, you will get a renewal application form either via e-mail or mail. Drivers under the age of 80 with class A, B, C, E or F and drivers over the age of 65 with a class D licence must pass a vision and knowledge test in order to renew their licence usually every five years.
Effective July 1, 2018, requirements for class D drivers under the age of 65 have changed. Drivers under age 65 will be required to pass a vision test and knowledge test in order to renew their licence.
Drivers aged 65 to 79 with class A, B, C, D, E or F licences are required to pass a vision, knowledge and road test in the event of an at-fault collision or the accumulation of three or more demerit points. For those commercial drivers with an air brake endorsement, the written air brake test has been aligned with the written knowledge test cycle, and the practical air brake test is only required when a road test is triggered. Drivers 80 and over with Class A, B, C, D, E or F licences are required to pass a vision, knowledge and road test prior to renewing their licence.
Commercial-class licence holders, depending on their age, are required to periodically submit a satisfactory medical report to maintain their commercial licence, or otherwise be downgraded to a Class G licence (refer to Medical Reporting). Effective July 1, 2018 class D drivers will also be required to periodically submit and pass a medical report to maintain their class D licence, or otherwise be downgraded to a class G licence.
If any tests are required, you must attend a DriveTest Centre to complete the tests and renew your licence. If no tests are required, you must renew your licence in person at any ServiceOntario centre. Take the form into any ServiceOntario centre in the province. They are all equipped to take photographs. You will be asked to sign the form, show identification, pay a fee and have your photograph taken. You will get a temporary licence on the spot if your application and documents are in order, and your permanent one will be mailed to you. You must carry it with you whenever you drive, and produce it when a police officer requests it.
If you do not get a renewal application form in the mail when your licence is due for renewal, call the Ministry of Transportation. You are responsible for making sure you have a valid driver’s licence.
If your licence has been suspended, cancelled or expired for more than three years, you will be required to re-apply for a licence in Ontario and meet all the requirements of graduated licensing, including passing all the required tests. Only then will you be eligible to re-apply for any commercial-class licences.
Important notice: New Class D licence renewal requirements and medical requirements will come into effect July 1, 2018. Click on the following link for additional information.
Medical reporting
If you have any commercial vehicle driver’s licence other than a class D licence, you must pass a medical examination every one to five years, depending on your age. You will get a notice and a blank medical-report form in the mail three months before your medical report is due. You must go to a doctor and get a medical examination. The doctor completes the form. You must submit the form to the Ministry of Transportation, either by mail or in person. If you do not file a medical report, your class of licence will be downgraded.
- Drivers under the age of 46 are required to submit a medical report every five years.
- Drivers aged 46 to 64 are required to submit a medical report every three years.
- Drivers aged 65 or older are required to submit a medical report every year.
- Drivers aged 80 and older with a class D licence must submit a medical report every year.
Changing your name or address
You must tell the Ministry of Transportation within six days of changing your name or address. You will need a new licence when you change your address. You can change your address on the ServiceOntario website, or you can take the change of information to a ServiceOntario centre, or mail it to the ministry.
Ministry of Transportation
P.O. Box 9200
Kingston, ON
K7L 5K4
The ministry will send you a new licence. When you get it, destroy your old licence and carry the new one with you whenever you drive.
If you change your name, you need a new licence. Take the documents you must show and your current licence to a ServiceOntario centre. A new photograph will be taken.
You will get a temporary licence to use until your permanent licence is mailed to you. Carry it with you whenever you drive.
There is no charge for getting a new licence because you change your name or address. The table below shows the documents you will need to change your name on your driver’s licence.
Reason for name change | Documentation required |
---|---|
Marriage | Government Issued Mariage Certificate Change-of-Name Certificate |
Common Law Alliance | Change-of-Name Certificate |
Adoption | Court Order for Adoption Change-of-Name Certificate |
Under the Change of Name Act | Change-of-Name Certificate |
Driver's licence laws
It is illegal to:
- lend your licence
- let someone else use it
- use an altered licence
- use another licence as your own
- have more than one Ontario driver’s licence
- use a fictitious or imitation licence