Licensed in another country? How to get your BC driver's licence

ICBC says that once you move to BC, you have 90 days to switch your valid foreign licence to a BC driver's licence. During that time you can drive on your current licence. ICBC lists some exceptions, for example visitors staying up to six months and full-time students at a designated BC school with a valid exemption.

In practice, 90 days goes quickly. Gathering an original driving record from another country, getting it translated, and finding a test appointment can each take weeks. If you think you'll need to test, start early: book the knowledge test soon after you arrive, and book a lesson before your road test rather than after the 90 days are up.

ICBC has licence exchange agreements with a list of jurisdictions. If your licence is from one of them and you can prove at least two years of driving experience, you can usually exchange it for a BC licence without a knowledge test or road test. ICBC's list currently includes places such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and several Western European countries. The list can change, so check the “licence exchange jurisdictions” list on ICBC's Moving from outside Canada page.

If your licence is from a country that isn't on that list, you can still apply, but ICBC says you'll need to pass the tests: a vision screening, a knowledge test and a road test. Iran, Afghanistan, India, China, the Philippines and most of the Middle East, Africa and Latin America are not on the exchange list as of October 2026, so most of our Farsi-speaking students go the testing route.

Your experience then decides which road test you take:

• Two or more years of provable non-learner experience: ICBC says this exempts you from the Graduated Licensing Program. You take the knowledge test, then a road test for a full licence instead of starting as a learner.
• Less than two years, or no acceptable proof: you enter the Graduated Licensing Program and get a Class 7 learner or novice licence with restrictions.
• If your foreign licence expired more than three years ago and you can't show recent driving, ICBC may treat you as a new driver.

These rules are ICBC's, not ours, and individual cases vary. Ask ICBC at your appointment which test you're booked for.

ICBC asks newcomers to book an appointment at a driver licensing office. Based on ICBC's current pages, plan to bring:

• Two pieces of accepted ID. ICBC says most Government of Canada immigration documents can be your primary ID; you also need a secondary ID.
• Every driver's licence you hold. ICBC keeps them (you can only hold one licence in BC) and uses them to work out your experience.
• Proof of experience: an original driving record or letter of experience from the licensing authority that issued your licence. ICBC says it must be an original or a stamped copy, from a verifiable licensing body, and show your name, date of birth, licence number, licence class and the original issue date. Photocopies and email printouts aren't accepted.
• A translation by an ICBC-approved translator if any document isn't in English. The translation must be made from the original or stamped copy, and you bring that original along with it.
• Glasses or contact lenses if you need them, for the vision screening.

The same driving record is also how ICBC credits your experience for insurance (up to 15 years, according to ICBC), so it's worth getting the paperwork right even if you have to test.

The knowledge test checks BC road rules and signs, many of which differ from what you learned at home. ICBC says the Class 5 and Class 7 knowledge test can be taken at a driver licensing office in 12 languages, and Farsi is one of them. There is also an online knowledge test option for passenger vehicles; check ICBC's page for which languages it currently offers.

Study from ICBC's own driver's guide, Learn to Drive Smart, and use ICBC's free practice test. Pay extra attention to the rules that surprise experienced drivers: school and playground zones, flashing green lights, pedestrian right-of-way, four-way stops, and what to do for emergency vehicles.

Experience from another country is a real advantage: car control, steering and confidence in traffic are usually already there. What costs marks on a BC road test is rarely control. It's habits that were normal, or even necessary, where you learned. The ones we see most often:

• Stops that aren't full stops. In BC a stop sign means the wheels stop completely, behind the stop line or crosswalk. Rolling through is one of the fastest ways to fail.
• Missing shoulder checks. ICBC expects a shoulder check before every lane change, before pulling away from the curb, and on the right before a right turn, for cyclists and pedestrians. Mirrors alone aren't enough.
• Speed in school and playground zones. These 30 km/h zones are strictly enforced and closely watched on the test. On most city streets without a sign, the limit is 50 km/h.
• Pedestrians. Drivers must yield at crosswalks, including unmarked crosswalks at intersections, and must not turn in front of someone who is still crossing.
• Keeping up with traffic instead of the limit. ICBC's own tip sheet says not to chase speeding traffic. It also says you can be marked for driving too slowly or too cautiously in low-risk situations.
• Gap judgment and following distance. Aggressive gaps that work elsewhere are marked as unsafe here; so is hesitating when the gap is clearly safe.
• Local rules: a flashing green light in BC usually means a pedestrian-controlled signal, not a protected left turn, and a right turn on red is allowed only after a full stop when it's safe and no sign prohibits it.

None of this is hard. It's simply different, and a habit you've had for ten years needs a few sessions of deliberate practice to change under test pressure.

ICBC says only the driver examiner and the person being tested are allowed in the car. That means no translator or family member on the road test. Examiners give simple directions such as “at the second intersection, turn left” or “pull over and park when it's safe”, and ICBC's tip sheet says you can ask if you're unsure.

If English isn't your first language, this is worth practising. With Zula, the explanations can be in Farsi so the rules are completely clear, and then we practise the examiner's directions in English so test day sounds familiar. Your written lesson report can also be in Farsi or English.

There's no fixed number, and we won't sell you a package to guess at it. Some experienced drivers need only a little work on BC-specific habits. Others discover in the first drive that a few long-held habits would fail a test and need more practice to change.

The honest way to find out is one 90-minute lesson ($150 plus GST). Your instructor, Shayan, watches how you actually drive on North Vancouver roads, explains what an examiner would mark, and you get a written lesson report with notes and a readiness score. From there you decide the next step, one lesson at a time. See pricing and the FAQ for details.

Many newcomers don't have a BC-insured car for the test yet. Zula offers a road-test day (a 45-minute warm-up followed by your road test in the school car, $170 plus GST), but only for students who have already been assessed in a regular lesson and approved as road-test ready. Experience from another country doesn't skip that step. If your driving isn't ready yet, we'll tell you what needs work rather than take you to a test you're likely to fail.

Lessons start and end at 1290 Marine Drive, a few minutes from ICBC's North Vancouver office. Read more about the ICBC road test in North Vancouver.