Shifting Gears: Finding a Driving School in Toronto
From in-class to online, options are available to suit your needs
One of my first discussions about driving schools in the city took place two summers ago at our neighbourhood park. A neighbour friend was telling me about her experience learning to drive five years ago at a school close to where we live.
She told me that taking driver’s training was stressful and she had to switch schools because she didn’t like the vibe from the first. She persevered and passed. What’s inspiring to me is not only is she a busy mom running her own business, but she understands how intimidating it is to learn a skill like driving at our age. What’s more is she did it in a language not native to her.
My friend has been adamant that I learn to drive since that day and playfully goads me to get off my butt and do it, as I ask her to take me vintage clothing shopping in the far reaches of the city. So far both things have not happened. I’ll have to ask again which school she had success with. Hopefully it’s still government-approved.
Does Young Driver’s of Canada still apply to me?
I may be getting ahead of myself since I’ve only just booked my G1 knowledge test, but I wanted to start searching for reputable driver’s ed courses in Toronto. I remember Young Driver’s of Canada being one of the only options available as a teen, or at least they marketed it that way. But as a mature adult, would it benefit me as much?
My first thought isn’t the cost of driver’s ed (courses in Ontario have a huge range from $500-$2000 or more depending on the level of training needed), but how much I’d hate being in a class with teenagers or young 20-somethings, feeling annoyed, defeated, and depressed. Thankfully, friends who’ve recently been through driver’s training have reassured me that it’s not that bad. In fact, online options are available so you don’t even have to leave your house to attend your road safety classes.
Let me Google that for you
Out of curiosity, I did a quick Google search for driving schools in Toronto and pulled up a number of schools in my area. To my surprise, there weren’t nearly as many as I thought there would be.
The reviews don’t tell the full story since they’re all pretty much the same across the board. How does one know what to go by when Google Reviews give them all five starts? Is driving school that nebulous
My question is, how reliable is this and is word of mouth a better option? Should I text my high school buddy who told me about a place with a guy named Tony on Dundas West but couldn’t remember the name of the school? Was it Easy Driving and is it now closed?
Ontario’s graduated licensing program is designed to enhance driver safety by gradually gaining experience in a controlled environment that includes restrictions. The entire process takes up to 24 months to get a full Class G licence because of the two-step process. The first step is to pass a knowledge test to obtain your G1, or learner’s permit. You can start practicing with a licensed driver after this first step, which hopefully I’ll be on April 22!
School times two: the more you know
The reason why I’m writing about this topic is because I’m taking a course at the University of Toronto. Our main course assignment is to create a blog, vlog, or podcast on a topic that interests us and test its engagement by applying the social media marketing strategies discussed in class.
In addition to this main project, we recently completed a group video project where we had to produce a two-minute video on a subject, along with a written rationale describing our strategy and target audience. The video topic chosen among my group was my own blog topic: learning how to drive as an adult. This resonated with each group member as they felt learning this life skill was a universal topic, no matter your age.
Insights from my university course
Through our own perspectives on learning how to drive, our video project expanded into something much more relevant. My own viewpoint was based more on the privilege of living downtown in a big city and never having to learn. For a newcomer, the experience may be different.
Although many countries have reciprocal driver’s licence agreements with Canada with the UK, US, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, to name a few, most countries do not. This means that a newcomer from a country not listed may have to enroll in a driver’s training course to meet the standards of driving in Ontario in order to achieve a full licence.
To help fill this need, numerous settlement agencies can assist a newcomer in getting the proper paperwork to get started since for many newcomers, driving opens the doors to valuable employment opportunities.
Our group’s end product was a dynamic video that focused on a newcomer’s experience in obtaining an Ontario driver’s licence. The video included fast-moving street scenes capturing downtown Toronto during golden hour. We see the narrator scrolling on his phone with and elements included the narrator scrolling through online tests on the handy website G1.ca you to help prepare you and other resources you need to know as you get started.
Thanks to this group project I have even more knowledge at my disposal to help prepare me for my knowledge test.
Do you have any tips to get started with driver’s ed? Share below!