When Drivers Move From One Province to Another

The Canadian Driver Licence Compact is an agreement among all Canadian provinces that sets out guidelines for the way provinces administer drivers’ licences and records when drivers move from one province to another. The provinces within the Compact wish to:
  • Promote compliance with traffic laws and improve highway safety within their respective borders
  • Facilitate the issuing of drivers’ licences for residents who have a valid drivers’ licence and who are moving to another province
  • Pursue compatibility by implementing the concept of "one driver licence and one driver record"
  • Further highway safety by treating offences that residents have been convicted of in other provinces the same as if they had been convicted of in the home province for the purpose of updating and maintaining driver’s licence records and imposing sanctions
  • Strengthen cooperation between the provinces so residents are encouraged to satisfy penalties imposed as a result of convictions for certain traffic offences committed outside their home province

Note:

You cannot apply for a driver’s licence if you are suspended in another province. See Section 51(r) of the Traffic Safety Act below:

Section 51 except as otherwise permitted under the Act, no person shall

(r) apply for, acquire or attempt to acquire an operator's licence for that person's own use or in that person's name

    1. during any period that the person is disqualified from driving a motor vehicle in Alberta, another province or territory of Canada or a state of the United States of America,
    2. during any period for which that person's operator's licence is suspended, or
    3. during any period for which that person is disqualified from holding an operator's licence in Alberta, another province or territory of Canada or a state of the United States of America, whether or not the period for which the person's operator's licence was issued has expired.