Obtaining NS driver license through other province conversion first?

[zinneken]

We are from the Netherlands and have landed in Nova Scotia in January. Our driver's license can not be exchanged, whilst it can be exchanged in other provinces, such as New Brunswick.

Since our 90 days are up, we are looking at other provinces, and apparently it is possible to have our license converted in another province and then convert the license from that other province to a NS license.

New Brunswick is one of the provinces that converts our license to a Canadian one, but they need 2 pieces of proof of residency (landline telephone, bank statement, etc.) in New Brunswick and we don't have that obviously.

Has anyone else done this in NB or elsewhere? Does anyone know the procedure? Thanks!

 

[dbss]

Biggest hurdle with this setup - You need an address in NB for the govt to send you the license.

 

[zinneken]

Would a mail forwarding service with a physical (not PO BOX) address work?

We can print a void cheque, easy to do in online banking. Change address in online banking, and print the void cheque. Then when it is finished, change it all back.
But we still need a second piece of "residence" verification. Not sure what or how to do this.

 

[zardoz]

Would a mail forwarding service with a physical (not PO BOX) address work?

We can print a void cheque, easy to do in online banking. Change address in online banking, and print the void cheque. Then when it is finished, change it all back.
But we still need a second piece of "residence" verification. Not sure what or how to do this.

A VOID cheque would not be acceptable. You need to prove that you actually LIVE in the province. As you don't, you would be misrepresenting yourself if you try to manufacture evidence of residence. They want to see items that have you tied to a physical address, such as utility bills.

 

[polara69]

We are from the Netherlands and have landed in Nova Scotia in January. Our driver's license can not be exchanged, whilst it can be exchanged in other provinces, such as New Brunswick.

Since our 90 days are up, we are looking at other provinces, and apparently it is possible to have our license converted in another province and then convert the license from that other province to a NS license.

New Brunswick is one of the provinces that converts our license to a Canadian one, but they need 2 pieces of proof of residency (landline telephone, bank statement, etc.) in New Brunswick and we don't have that obviously.

Has anyone else done this in NB or elsewhere? Does anyone know the procedure? Thanks!

With respect, did you not check that before you landed? I mean this should be part of your homework. I don't think there is another way than that one:

People who have a valid driver’s licence from other foreign countries will be required to purchase a knowledge test receipt and road test receipt and successfully complete vision, signs, rules and road tests. See How to obtain a Regular Class 5 Driver's Licence for additional information. For a Class 1, 2, 3, or 4 Driver’s Licence, you must provide a satisfactory medical.

 

[zinneken]

A VOID cheque would not be acceptable...

A VOID cheque is actually on their list of acceptable items.

 

[zinneken]

With respect, did you not check that before you landed? ...

This is off-topic, and I didn't want to get into this rant, but ... regardless of the amount of homework, there is no way knowing before moving to NS the examiner's systematically find bogus reasons to fail newcomers. Every test is money in the pocket of the province and employment for an examiner. When a system is excessively unfair, one goes elsewhere to obtain.

As for excessively unfair, examples of single reason why exams failed:
- not looking on top of a 2 meter high snow bank (that is higher then the car) when parking to make sure someone doesn't jump off it
- breaking on the manual gear for soft speed reduction (from 6th gear to 4th gear at 55 km/h in order to slowly reduce speed is not allowed, you have to do 6-5-4)
- not keeping both hands on the wheel at all times (in relation to taking one hand to change gear, not in relation to driving with 1 hand - the examiner could not comment on how one changes gear without letting one hand go off the steering wheel to change gear, he ended up saying next time to get an automatic transmission just for the exam).
- going in lower gear to have higher power to drive uphill and avoid stalling the engine (you have to do the hill all in the same gear)
That's 4 exams and fees gone, so we look elsewhere.

We didn't emigrate with over 15 years spotless driving in busy European cities and highways (roughly 45K km/year) to submit ourselves to funding driving examiners for the above. Every time, they find another ridiculous reason to ask us for another payment. So yes, the system is unfair deliberately, and we seek alternative ways. If most provinces convert our license, then why not NS? There is no reason other then sustaining examiner's jobs with newcomer's money.

 

[jazibkg]

This is off-topic, and I didn't want to get into this rant, but ... regardless of the amount of homework, there is no way knowing before moving to NS the examiner's systematically find bogus reasons to fail newcomers. Every test is money in the pocket of the province and employment for an examiner. When a system is excessively unfair, one goes elsewhere to obtain.

As for excessively unfair, examples of single reason why exams failed:
- not looking on top of a 2 meter high snow bank (that is higher then the car) when parking to make sure someone doesn't jump off it
- breaking on the manual gear for soft speed reduction (from 6th gear to 4th gear at 55 km/h in order to slowly reduce speed is not allowed, you have to do 6-5-4)
- not keeping both hands on the wheel at all times (in relation to taking one hand to change gear, not in relation to driving with 1 hand - the examiner could not comment on how one changes gear without letting one hand go off the steering wheel to change gear, he ended up saying next time to get an automatic transmission just for the exam).
- going in lower gear to have higher power to drive uphill and avoid stalling the engine (you have to do the hill all in the same gear)
That's 4 exams and fees gone, so we look elsewhere.

We didn't emigrate with over 15 years spotless driving in busy European cities and highways (roughly 45K km/year) to submit ourselves to funding driving examiners for the above. Every time, they find another ridiculous reason to ask us for another payment. So yes, the system is unfair deliberately, and we seek alternative ways. If most provinces convert our license, then why not NS? There is no reason other then sustaining examiner's jobs with newcomer's money.

Did they really fail you for these reasons . In BC, as long as you drive like a normal person and do all the safety checks, you pass.

Find alternative ways of course, there isn't a very concrete way to prove where you're living other than a tenancy agreement, which they have not asked to provide. However, provinces do ask "are you a resident of...?" and such questions when you go to their licensing authorities.