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can i drive again in alberta ?

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sammy_engineer

Full Member
Aug 11, 2017
36
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hello

I'm an immigrant to Canada , i made a soft landing at 2016 and stayed for 2 months. during that period i was able to rent a car using an international driver license i issued at home ( in addition to my home country license )

now I'm planning to go to Alberta at next week and stay for 2 months to look for jobs.

My question is that will I be able to use my new international driver license to rent a car for another 2 months ?

thanks for your help
 
sammy_engineer said:
hello

I'm an immigrant to Canada , i made a soft landing at 2016 and stayed for 2 months. during that period i was able to rent a car using an international driver license i issued at home ( in addition to my home country license )

now I'm planning to go to Alberta at next week and stay for 2 months to look for jobs.

My question is that will I be able to use my new international driver license to rent a car for another 2 months ?

thanks for your help
Click to expand...

does anybody have an idea about my question plz
 
Shouldn't be a problem unless you tell the rental agency you have had a PR for a while. Don't get pulled over!
 
Buletruck said:
Shouldn't be a problem unless you tell the rental agency you have had a PR for a while. Don't get pulled over!
Click to expand...

So are you saying this is illegal! I really do not want to do such a thing as it would be a bad starting for our new life . What if i been pulled over ? Does that mean im driving illegally?

Please if anybody is sure from this let me know ?
 
It's not illegal. The requirement is to exchange your license from other jurisdictions 90 days after you take up permenent residence in Alberta. You haven't done that yet. The issue is more if you tend to make a habit of coming and going for short periods as a PR, and an officer pulling you over may become over zealous. And rental car agents probably haven't got a clue on the actual requirement anyway. Ultimately, you will have to exchange your license. It's illegal to have 2 in Canada.
 
Buletruck said:
It's not illegal. The requirement is to exchange your license from other jurisdictions 90 days after you take up permenent residence in Alberta. You haven't done that yet. The issue is more if you tend to make a habit of coming and going for short periods as a PR, and an officer pulling you over may become over zealous. And rental car agents probably haven't got a clue on the actual requirement anyway. Ultimately, you will have to exchange your license. It's illegal to have 2 in Canada.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply actually for sure i intend to exchange my driver license after i move permanantly the next year , somfrom what u are saying is that the renting company will hire me with no problem or it is a grey are ! But when i rent with my they would require an id and i will have to give them my pr and the will notice it is not new ?

Regarding the police do you mean if im stopped ( hopfully not ) then i will automatically get into touble ? Can i make a logic explanation by saying i only stsyed in alberta for 2 months previously and i also would stay a maximum of 2 months before moving permenantly ?

Thanks for your advise , have u been in this same scenario like me
 
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When you rent the car, use your passport and IDP to rent it. There is no requirement to show your PR for anything other than boarding commercial transportation to come to Canada. As far as the police, I doubt anyone would actually ticket you ( you haven't settled in Canada yet, so you reasons are sound), but as with any interaction with law enforcement official (CBSA is a good example) it all depends on the attending officers mood (and only if you happen to have an encounter with them) that day.

I have had to go through this "dog and pony show" with rental car agencies on a few occasions.
 
Thanks
Buletruck said:
When you rent the car, use your passport and IDP to rent it. There is no requirement to show your PR for anything other than boarding commercial transportation to come to Canada. As far as the police, I doubt anyone would actually ticket you ( you haven't settled in Canada yet, so you reasons are sound), but as with any interaction with law enforcement official (CBSA is a good example) it all depends on the attending officers mood (and only if you happen to have an encounter with them) that day.

I have had to go through this "dog and pony show" with rental car agencies on a few occasions.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for your time , could you please explain what u mean by dog and pony show with rental companies ? U also rented for long time , was it more than three months or less ?

Also let say i got a ticket and the officer is in a bad mood , would that be the end of it or i may considered an outlaw person and an illegal driver from a law point of view ?

Thanks again
 
"Dog and pony show" is slang for making a bigger effort than is actually required.

You won't be an outlaw or illegal. Despite what an officer in a bad mood may think, ultimately it would be up to the court to decide if you are guilty or not. You would, if it came to that, have the opportunity to present your side of the story to a judge (if you choose to do so), or just pay the fine. Not having settled in Canada yet (perfectly allowable) is solid reasoning for not having exchanged your license. You would be fine in my opinion. There are only a handful of driving related charges that are federal crimes (impaired driving, dangerous driving causing injury, etc) that carry serious repercussions for a PR. A simple traffic ticket, including not having a current Alberta license isn't one of them. Relax, rent your car and good luck with the job search.
 
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I agree. No need to worry since you will not be breaking any laws that I am aware of. Drivers licenses are governed at provincial level. The provinces set the rules for people that have a physical permanent address in that province. 90 days is the common rule across Canada for exchanging your license to a Canadian license. Since you do not have a permanent address in AB this should not be a problem (assuming you dont). The age of your PR status has nothing to do with whether you can drive in Canada or not on an international license or not. The question is do you have a permanent address anywhere in Canada? If you do, that may complicate things a little however I suspect even if you are pulled over, if you take the time to nicely explain your situation if questioned about it (only temporary here for a job, have not been in canada - perhaps have your passport handy with entry and exit stamps) you should not have too much trouble.

Car rental agencies dont care that much. They do not police licensing as the assumption of risk for the vehicle is on you. As long as you have a drivers license (international or not) they should not cause any trouble for you either.

Good luck
 
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