Booking a road test to receive a driver’s licence has become more difficult since the province took over testing.
Robin Cameron, a senior driving instructor, believes the backlog started because government driving testers do not work overtime.
“Right now I have more than 25 drivers waiting to test for a Class 3 licence,” Cameron told CTV News.
Another contributing factor could the new mandatory training for truck drivers announced in October. Drivers now have to complete 121.5 hours of training to get their Class 1 licence, and those who passed the test between when the mandatory training was announced and March 1 have to retake it.
But that backlog is also affecting drivers who want the Class 4 licence needed to be an Uber or Taxi driver.
Cheryl Schock, who books tests at Cameron Driver Education, said there are currently no slots for this type of licence in the Edmonton area, while a registry owner told CTV News Class 5 road tests are fully booked until the end of the month.
“Road test availability has declined in comparison to the same period last year,” the Association of Alberta Registry Agents said in a statement. “We have been told anecdotally by our members that wait times to Albertans have increased as a result.”
Alberta Transportation told CTV News slots for all licence types will be announced soon.
With files from CTV Edmonton's David Ewasuk
