British Columbia

PASSENGER VEHICLES MOTORCYCLES

To obtain a licence in BC to drive a passenger vehicle, BC's Graduated Licensing Program (GPL) includes two stages: the Class 7L Learner stage, which precedes the Class 7N Novice stage.
Effective date of program implementation: August, 1998; modified October 6, 2003 and March 31, 2007


AGE REQUIREMENTS
Minimum entry age: 17 years
Minimum exit age: 18 years and 6 months
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Parental consent
Successfully passed test  ⁄ course: Class 7 road test
Time completion: Held a Class 7L Learner licence for 12 cumulative months
EXIT REQUIREMENTS
Parental consent
Successfully passed test ⁄ course: Class 5 road test
Time completion: Held a Class 7 licence for 24 consecutive months without a driving prohibition - reduced by 6 months if an approved driver education course is successfully completed in the learner stage and drivers have no violations (tickets) or at-fault crashes (found to be 50% or more at fault) for the first 18 months of the Novice stage
STAGE DURATION
Minimum duration: See above for time completion requirements
Maximum holding period: No limit (5 year licence, can be renewed without re-qualifying/re-testing for licence)
DRIVING RESTRICTIONS AND CONDITIONS
BAC level while driving: 0.0 BAC
Must display "N" sign⁄plate when driving: Mandatory
Night restrictions
Passenger restrictions: Limit of 1 passenger, unless accompanied by a supervisor who is 25 years or older with a valid Class 1-5 licence (immediate family allowed with no supervisor)
Road restrictions
SUSPENSION & PROHIBITION
Lower driver penalty point threshold: 2-6 (discretionary,instead of 15-19). If a driving prohibition is received, the driver goes back to the beginning of the novice stage after serving their prohibition time, losing all experience time
See Suspension & Prohibition section for Class 7L drivers
DRIVER IMPROVEMENT ACTIONS
Voluntary defensive driving course
ADDITIONAL CLASS 7N GLP FEATURES
N⁄A
FOOTNOTE
Due to BC's licensing rule that an individual can only hold either GLP or non-GLP licences at the same time, it is possible for someone to exit the GLP class 7N and 8N stage and enter the class 6L stage earlier than identified above. If a GLP driver held both passenger vehicle and motorcycle licences at the same time and completed the GLP exit test with one, the other licence would automatically be converted to a non-GLP licence. This licensing scenario is relatively rare due to the limited number of GLP drivers who are applying for 2 licence classes at the same time.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Jason Luchies
Senior Policy Advisor, Insurance Corporation of Britich Columbia (ICBC)
P.O. Box 3750
Victoria, BC V8W 3Y5
Phone: (250) 414-7879 
Email: Jason.Luchies@icbc.com
Website:
Insurance Corporation of British Columbia - Driver Licensing: http://www.icbc.com/licensing/