On this page
- Where the Oshawa DriveTest Centre is, and when it runs road tests
- Is Oshawa easier? What the official numbers say
- What the G2 test covers in Oshawa
- What the G test covers now, and what it skips
- The rules that cost you money
- Your test-day list for Oshawa
- After the test: results, retests and your temporary licence
- Frequently asked questions
Where the Oshawa DriveTest Centre is, and when it runs road tests
The drive test centre in Oshawa is inside Midtown Mall, at 200 John St W, L1J 2B4. DriveTest's own centre list sets road-test appointments from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Saturday, and inside services from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. Several route sites print a later weekday close. Go by the official list, which also shows a live wait estimate for the counter. DriveTest can change hours and rules at short notice, so check its centre list before you drive over.
What you can do there without an appointment
DriveTest's list shows road tests at Oshawa for cars (G2 and G), motorcycles and the commercial classes, A to F plus Z.
The G1 knowledge test is the walk-in. You don't need an appointment, but DriveTest asks you to arrive at least an hour before the office closes, which on a weekday at Oshawa means by 4 p.m. at the latest. The test is offered in 32 languages, it isn't timed, and you need 80% to pass.
You can book a road test online, by phone (647-776-0331 or 1-888-570-6110) or at a centre. The $159.75 G1 package already includes your first G2 road test. An approved driving course can cut the 12-month G1 wait to eight, and we've looked hard at what a BDE course actually gets you beyond that.
Getting there and checking in
Arrive at least 30 minutes early. DriveTest and the Driver's Handbook both say so. We found two Oshawa guides that give 15 minutes instead, which is how people end up rushing the walk-around.
Park, go inside and check in at the kiosk or with an agent, then go back to your car and wait. If no examiner has reached you within 30 minutes of your appointment time, return to Counter A.
On a G1 you can't drive there alone, so the Handbook says an accompanying driver must come with you. A translator or your instructor may help at check-in and at the debrief afterward, with your consent, but only the examiner rides along.
Tests run in any weather unless DriveTest tells you otherwise. If yours lands in November or later, a few winter driving lessons beforehand will help.
Is Oshawa easier? What the official numbers say
You've heard Oshawa is the easy one. That rumour sits behind most DriveTest Oshawa reviews, and there's one official record to check it against. The Ministry of Transportation counted every road test at every centre in 2022, and the Auditor General of Ontario published the figures in December 2023. We looked for newer centre-by-centre numbers and found none.
Oshawa was the busiest road-test centre in the province that year. Its pass rate was 67% on the G2 test and 70% on the G test, which puts it in the middle of its neighbours.
| DriveTest Centre | G2 road tests | G2 pass rate | G road tests | G pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oshawa | 33,810 | 67% | 37,837 | 70% |
| Toronto Port Union (Scarborough) | 26,145 | 65% | 29,077 | 71% |
| Toronto Metro East | 17,316 | 63% | 20,224 | 64% |
| Toronto Downsview | 22,456 | 62% | 32,167 | 63% |
| Newmarket | 16,342 | 64% | 34,194 | 61% |
| Peterborough | 8,921 | 72% | 22,429 | 74% |
| Lindsay | 9,449 | 82% | 23,543 | 71% |
Calendar year 2022. Ministry of Transportation data, published by the Auditor General of Ontario in December 2023. Oshawa's temporary backlog site is left out.
CBC Hamilton got the same year's data through a freedom-of-information request. It found Oshawa at 68% overall, against a provincial average of 69%. So the Oshawa drive test pass rate isn't "above average", whatever the route sites say.
One caution. 2022 was a backlog year, with temporary sites open to clear the pandemic queue, so treat these figures as a picture of that year.
Why the pass rates bunch together
Part of the answer is how examiners are managed. The Auditor General reported that Serco, the company running DriveTest for the province, had a pass-rate target of 65% to 75% for every examiner. Supervisors said an examiner whose weekly average strayed from the norm, "typically 15% higher or lower", faced a performance review. Oshawa's two rates sit inside that band. So do Port Union's. Downsview, Metro East and Newmarket fall a few points under it.
CBC heard two readings. A driving instructor said every centre tests the same skills, while the Ontario Safety League, a road safety group, said the results shatter an "illusion of consistency". We won't referee that one. On the numbers, Oshawa is ordinary: a few points kinder than Downsview, level with Port Union, and well short of Lindsay's 82% on the G2.
If you're driving in from Scarborough or east Toronto
This is where the numbers stop being trivia. The Auditor General tracked every Scarborough resident who passed a road test between January 2022 and March 2023, nearly 50,000 new drivers. About 17,000 tested at home, at Port Union. About 9,900, one in five, tested in Oshawa, the largest group to go anywhere else.
Then the auditors looked at who crashed. Of the drivers who tested outside Scarborough, 3.8% were in a collision within 15 months of getting their licence, against 2.9% of those who tested at home. The Oshawa group came in at 3.7%.
The audit shows where the gap sits. It can't show that Oshawa's test caused it. It does support some plain advice: if most of your driving will be on Scarborough's streets and the 401 through Toronto, practise there, whichever centre you book. Our list of driving schools in Scarborough is a place to start.
The ministry was asked to consider limits on testing away from home. The Auditor General's 2025 follow-up found little progress, with a review due by December 2026.
What the G2 test covers in Oshawa
The G2 road test, the city test, takes about 20 minutes. Ontario's own list of what it checks covers left and right turns, stopping, parallel parking, one-way streets, lane changes, three-point turns, residential streets, traffic lights, and stop and yield signs. The Auditor General's description adds curves, intersections and roadside stops.
The examiner gives directions as you go and isn't allowed to coach you, so ask your questions before you start. The Handbook also bars electronic driving aids on a road test, and it names automatic parallel parking, lane monitoring, cruise control and backup cameras.
Habits count as much as manoeuvres. If you learned from a parent, unlearn the rolling stop and the urge to keep up with traffic that's over the limit.
Routes: learn the streets, not a script
DriveTest publishes no routes. The province told CBC that every G route at its permanent centres was reviewed in January 2022, and that all routes are ministry-approved. Search for an Oshawa G2 test route or an Oshawa G test route anyway and you'll find guides, paid files and videos, several of which put the G test's expressway stretch on the 401.
The Auditor General found more than 15 recordings of real road tests online, from centres including Oshawa. The audit's worry was "route training", which teaches students to pass one test instead of practising in realistic traffic. One fix the ministry has since listed is "longer and more variable road tests".
Before you pay for an Oshawa route package: You'll find Oshawa route maps, files and videos for sale. DriveTest doesn't publish its routes, and examiners give you directions as you go. The Auditor General found real road tests from Oshawa and other centres posted online by people marketing themselves as instructors, and the ministry is still reviewing route training. A map tells you street names. It won't teach you to handle what's on them.
So learn the area. Drive the streets around Midtown Mall on the same weekday and at the same hour as your appointment, which is how you meet the school zones, the buses and the parking manoeuvres in real traffic. Then book one mock test with a local instructor, early enough to fix what it turns up. We list Oshawa driving instructors and, for the rest of Durham Region, Whitby driving schools.
What the G test covers now, and what it skips
The G road test takes about 30 minutes and includes a highway component. Oshawa is a full-time centre, so you'll get the modified test that DriveTest and Ontario's licensing page both describe. The Auditor General set the old test beside the new one, manoeuvre by manoeuvre.
| What the examiner checks | Full G test (2017 to 2021) | G test at full-time centres since January 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Right turns | 4 | 2 |
| Left turns | 4 | 2 |
| Stop intersections | 2 | 1 |
| Through intersections | 2 | 1 |
| Curves | 2 | 1 |
| Roadside stop | 1 | 0 |
| Parallel park | 1 | 0 |
| Three-point turn | 1 | 0 |
| Business sections | 2 | 1 |
| Lane changes in business sections | 2 in each | 2 in the one section |
| Residential sections | 2 | 0 |
| Expressway sections | 2 | 2 |
| Lane changes in each expressway section | 2 | 2 |
Part-time Travel Point locations keep the standard test. The ministry still hasn't decided whether the short version stays.
The highway declaration that can cancel your test
Before a G test you sign a Declaration of Highway Driving Experience. It asks how many times in the last three months you've driven on a 400-series highway, or on any highway with a limit of at least 80 km/h. DriveTest wants at least five. It also asks how long those trips were on average: under 5 km, 5 to 15 km, or over 15 km. The 401 and the 407 are both on DriveTest's list.
Come up short and the test is declared out of order. You lose half the fee without turning the key.
Count your highway drives before you book, not the night before. When you practise the merge, build your speed on the ramp and in the acceleration lane, then hold the posted limit, even when traffic is faster.
Three names for two tests
The paperwork can't agree on what to call these tests. DriveTest's G2 road test is the Handbook's G1 exit test, or Level One road test. DriveTest's G road test is the Handbook's G2 exit test, or Level Two road test. The Level Two chapter even says, "The G2 road test includes a component of expressway driving." It means the G test. If a page confuses you, the highway is always in the second test.
The rules that cost you money
The province sets road-test fees, tax included, and you pay them when you book. So the money is already spent when something goes wrong. What you get back depends on what happened.
| What happens | What it costs you | Where the rule comes from |
|---|---|---|
| You cancel or reschedule at least 48 hours ahead | Nothing; Ontario says this avoids the cancellation fee | ontario.ca and DriveTest |
| You cancel inside 48 hours, arrive late or don't show up | The whole prepaid fee: $53.75 for a G2 test, $91.25 for a G test | DriveTest's cancellation policy and the MTO Driver's Handbook |
| You miss it because weather stops you getting there (ask to rebook within 3 days, or later with proof), or, with proof, because of a death in your immediate family, illness, jury duty, incarceration or an unscheduled call in to work | Nothing; the fee stays as a credit | DriveTest's cancellation policy and the MTO Driver's Handbook |
| The examiner declares the test out of order: the car isn't in good working order, you don't have the highway experience for a G test, or a camera can't be switched off and you can't confirm it isn't recording the cabin or aimed at the examiner | Half the prepaid fee, and you pay that half again to rebook | DriveTest and the MTO Driver's Handbook |
| You fail | The fee for that attempt; book again after at least 10 days, at the full fee | DriveTest and the MTO Driver's Handbook |
The car, the camera and the passenger seat
You bring the car. It can be owned, borrowed or rented. DriveTest has none to lend. It must be in good working order, plated and insured, and the examiner walks around it before you start. Try the brake lights, signals and horn the day before, because a dead bulb is a cheap fix at home and half your fee at the centre.
Recording devices must be off. DriveTest names phones, dash cams and action cameras. If a built-in camera can't be disabled, you have to say out loud that it isn't recording the cabin or pointed at the examiner, or the test is out of order.
No passengers, and no pets. For the rest of the vehicle question, including what gets a car turned away, see our guide to renting a car for your road test.
Your test-day list for Oshawa
Eight things to have sorted before the examiner reaches your car window, in roughly the order you'll need them.
- Arrive at Midtown Mall, 200 John St W, at least 30 minutes before your appointment.
- Bring your driver's licence and your road-test confirmation, printed or on your phone.
- Bring your glasses or contact lenses if you need them to drive.
- Bring a car in good working order, plated and insured, with enough gas for the test.
- Taking the G2 test on a G1? Bring a fully licensed driver to get you there and home.
- Taking the G test? Know how many highway drives you've done in the last three months, at least five, and roughly how long they were.
- Switch off your dash cam and phone recording. Leave passengers and pets out of the car.
- Plan your ride home in case the result doesn't go your way.
After the test: results, retests and your temporary licence
The examiner gives you a short verbal summary when the drive is over.
If you passed, go back inside to have the result applied, and you'll leave with a temporary licence that's valid for 90 days. Don't put that step off, because a result that isn't applied within 12 months expires and you'd have to take the test again.
If the examiner scored your test on a tablet, you can download the results for 15 days. A paper scoresheet stays available on request for 13 months.
If you failed, the scoresheet shows where to improve. You can book again after at least 10 days, at the full fee. Book the retest and a mock test in the same sitting, while the examiner's comments are still fresh.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Oshawa drive test easier than Toronto?
Not by much, and not against Scarborough. In 2022 Oshawa passed 67% of G2 tests and 70% of G tests. Port Union passed 65% and 71%, while Downsview and Metro East sat in the low 60s. Oshawa's overall rate, 68%, was just under the 69% provincial average. Scarborough residents who tested outside Scarborough also had more collisions in the months that followed.
What are the hours at the Oshawa DriveTest Centre?
DriveTest lists road-test appointments from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Saturday. Inside services, which include the G1 knowledge test, run from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. There are no road tests on Sundays. Some third-party pages show a 7 p.m. weekday close that DriveTest's own list doesn't.
Does the Oshawa G test go on the 401?
Expect it to. The G test includes two expressway sections, and in every route guide we read, Oshawa's are on Highway 401. DriveTest doesn't publish routes, so nobody outside the centre can promise you a particular ramp or exit. Practise merging, changing lanes and exiting on the 401 itself. Those drives count toward your highway declaration too.
Do I have to parallel park on my G test?
Not at Oshawa. Since January 2022, full-time centres have left parallel parking, the roadside stop and the three-point turn out of the G test, along with residential streets. You will parallel park on the G2 test. Part-time Travel Point locations still give the standard G test, and DriveTest describes the shorter version as temporary.
Can I use my backup camera or dash cam during the test?
No to both. The Handbook says electronic driving aids, backup cameras included, can't be used on a road test, so park with your mirrors and shoulder checks. DriveTest says recording devices must be disabled. If a built-in camera can't be switched off, confirm that it isn't recording the cabin or aimed at the examiner. Otherwise the test is out of order and half your fee is gone.
What happens if I cancel my road test late?
You lose the whole prepaid fee: $53.75 for a G2 test or $91.25 for a G test. Late means inside 48 hours, and arriving late or not showing up costs the same. DriveTest makes exceptions, with proof, for a death in your immediate family, illness, jury duty, incarceration or an unscheduled call in to work. Weather is excused if you ask to rebook within three days, or later with proof.
How soon can I retake the test if I fail?
After at least 10 days. The Driver's Handbook sets that wait, and you pay the full fee again: $53.75 for the G2 test or $91.25 for the G test. Use the gap. Your scoresheet shows where you need to improve, and you can ask for a paper copy for 13 months after the test.
I have a licence from another country. Do I take both road tests?
Yes, if your licence comes from a place with no exchange agreement with Ontario. Since July 1, 2026, you can claim at most 12 months of driving experience from that licence. With the full 12 months you can take the G2 road test right away. Then you wait at least 12 months before the G test. You'll write the knowledge test first either way.