ON Driver
Ontario's official pages describe no way to take the G1 knowledge test from home (Get a G driver's licence: new drivers; DriveTest: Knowledge Tests). Ontario tells you to apply and take the required knowledge tests at a DriveTest centre, where appointments are not required, or at the ServiceOntario Bay and College location in downtown Toronto, where an appointment is required (Get a G driver's licence: new drivers). Pass the vision test and the knowledge test and you get a G1 licence (Get a G driver's licence). DriveTest, whose page says the tests are created by the Ministry of Transportation (MTO), adds that this type of test is proctored at a DriveTest Centre to prevent misconduct among test takers (DriveTest: Knowledge Tests).
So how does the test actually work?
The test is available on paper at all DriveTest centres and on the computer at some of them (DriveTest: Knowledge Tests). The questions are multiple choice and are based on the official driver's handbook (DriveTest: Knowledge Tests). It is not timed: you can take all the time you need until the office closes (DriveTest: Knowledge Tests). It is marked on the spot, so you get your result immediately (DriveTest: Knowledge Tests). Every computer test station has an audio function, with options to skip or repeat questions (DriveTest: Knowledge Tests).
You do not need an appointment for the computerized test, but DriveTest recommends arriving at least an hour before the office closes so there is time to register and finish (DriveTest: Knowledge Tests). The ServiceOntario location in Toronto is the exception among these two places for the standard test: the provincial page says it takes the test by appointment only (Get a G driver's licence).
The pass mark and retakes
To pass you must earn a total score of at least 80% (DriveTest: Knowledge Tests). The official pages do not publish how many questions the test has (DriveTest: Knowledge Tests), so this article does not give a number either. If you are unsuccessful you pay the fee and try again; test results are valid for one year, and within that year you retake only the sections that did not meet MTO standards (DriveTest: Knowledge Tests).
What happens if someone cheats
Anyone discovered cheating or disrupting other test takers is asked to leave the test room, receives an unsuccessful mark, loses the test fee and has to wait until the following day to re-try (DriveTest: Knowledge Tests). That is the only waiting period on the page, which gives no waiting time for a candidate who simply fails (DriveTest: Knowledge Tests), so do not read a same-day rule into it.
Where to read up before you go
Our guide to how the G1 knowledge test works covers the sections, the paper and computer versions, the audio option and what happens when you fail a section (how the G1 knowledge test works). If you plan to write the test in Chinese, the DriveTest page lists Chinese (Cantonese) among the languages it offers; our guide on that goes through what is and is not available (Chinese and other test languages). For the signs questions, start with our road sign article.
Drivers who move to Ontario with a licence from a place that has no exchange agreement with Ontario have to complete the vision test, the knowledge test and the G2 road test, and then, after at least 12 months, the G road test (Exchange an out-of-province driver's licence).