ON Driver
Ontario's graduated licensing has two learning levels, G1 and G2, and you start with the G1 (Get a G driver's licence: new drivers). You can apply once you are at least 16 years old and a resident of Ontario (not a visitor), and you get the G1 after you pass a vision test and a knowledge test about the rules of the road and traffic signs (Get a G driver's licence). Since May 11, 2026, when you apply for a class G licence you also have to declare that Ontario is your primary place of residence and that your presence in Canada is legal (Get a G driver's licence). From that day the licence comes with conditions you have to follow by law, not advice (Get a G driver's licence).
The five rules the page lists
The page says "By law, when you have a G1 licence, you must" do all of the following (Get a G driver's licence):
- Keep a zero blood alcohol level — no alcohol in your blood at all, not a lower limit (Get a G driver's licence).
- Make sure every passenger with you wears a properly working seatbelt (Get a G driver's licence).
- Do not drive between midnight and 5 a.m. (Get a G driver's licence).
- Do not drive on 400-series highways or high-speed expressways — the page gives Highway 401, the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) and the Gardiner Expressway as examples (Get a G driver's licence).
- Drive with a fully licensed driver who has at least four years of driving experience and whose blood alcohol level is less than .05 (zero if that person is 21 or under, where the page says it "should be zero") (Get a G driver's licence).
Who sits in the front seat
The driver accompanying you must be the only other person in the front seat (Get a G driver's licence). If you are driving with a driver instructor certified in Ontario, you can drive on any road (Get a G driver's licence).
How long you hold a G1
In most cases you practise with your G1 for 12 months before you can take your first road test (Get a G driver's licence). If you finish a government-approved driver education course, you can take that road test after just eight months (Get a G driver's licence). Ontario gives you up to five years to finish the whole two-level process, and after five years without a full G licence you have to start over (Get a G driver's licence).
What the first road test involves
The G1 exit test is where you show basic driving skills such as turning left and right, stopping, parallel parking, one-way streets, lane changes, three-point turns, driving in residential neighbourhoods, and traffic lights, stop and yield signs (Get a G driver's licence). If you fail it and your G1 licence has not expired, you can try the road test again; if the G1 licence has expired, you start all over and pay the test fees again (Get a G driver's licence).
What changes when you pass the G2 road test
Pass the G1 exit test and you get a G2 licence (Get a G driver's licence). A G2 driver can drive without an experienced driver in the car, on all Ontario roads, at any time of the day in most cases (Get a G driver's licence). The page's G2 list keeps two rules: a zero blood alcohol level, and no more passengers than there are working seatbelts (Get a G driver's licence). Drivers 19 and under have extra passenger rules between midnight and 5 a.m.: one passenger 19 or under for the first six months of the G2, up to three after that (Get a G driver's licence), which our G2 article covers.
A G1 holder counts as a novice driver, and Ontario's demerit point rules set separate penalties for new drivers (Understanding demerit points).