BC "N" license in Alberta

[jeffman]

I currently have a ICBC N licence and passed the BC road test, and was wondering if I traded it in for an Alberta License would I get a full license or a learners?

Thanks

[flamesfan6]

you would probably not get a full licence, the "N" license is a class 7 while even the GDL in Alberta is a class 5, you'd probably get a learners, or maybe even the alberta GDL license (better than the "N" in BC anyways)

edit - not completely sure, I did it the other way around and worked out good for me (AB -> BC), could always try and hope for the best.

[Hemi-Cuda]

i did this 7 years ago, but i had been driving in Alberta with a BC license as a student for 3 years before that. when i traded it in the lady looked at how long i had been driving with the N license and just gave me the full Alberta license. worked out quite nicely not having to take that 2nd drivers test

[HOOT]

I had the same experience as Hemi when I moved to Alberta. However they didn't even ask how long I was driving for. I would just call drivers services to find out what documents you would need because similar to Hemi it 8 years ago that I did it.

One piece of advise is make sure you get a copy of your drivers abstract you will need every little discount you can get. It's expensive out there for new drivers compared to BC.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by HOOT

I had the same experience as Hemi when I moved to Alberta. However they didn't even ask how long I was driving for. I would just call drivers services to find out what documents you would need because similar to Hemi it 8 years ago that I did it.

One piece of advise is make sure you get a copy of your drivers abstract you will need every little discount you can get. It's expensive out there for new drivers compared to BC.

another side note of my experience, when the Alberta registry office wanted my ICBC abstract, i was sweating it a bit since i had gotten a few speeding tickets on my BC license when i first moved to Calgary (i have since smartened up about where the cops like to sit). on the day that my abstract gets faxed to me though, it's completely clean. somehow the lines of communication got screwed up and ICBC was never informed of my tickets, that is until about 6 months after getting my Alberta license i get a letter in the mail from ICBC warning that they're going to suspend my now non-existent BC license (it was more than a few tickets)

i still marvel about how lucky i was through that whole experience

[Codes]

I had no issues transferring my BC "N" license over to a full Class 5 license in Alberta, but that was a few years ago. One thing to note was that I had my "N" for longer than the mandatory period, and just hadn't bother doing the test in BC to get my full Class 5.

In my case it seemed to work out. I was able to transfer my "N" to an Albertan Class 5, and didn't have to pay for the final road test in BC.

I did always wonder, however, if the rules attached to the "N" license were valid in Alberta, such as only being able to drive one additional person. Anyone know about that?

[flamesfan6]

i'd assume that they still carry over, I remember reading rules that stated that all restrictions of an AB drivers carries over in BC for it's GDL. It's still a class 7 'n' license, just because you are in another province doesn't mean it changes

saying that, don't know if the police officers would know whether to check for that or not.

[BCGirl]

Originally Posted by jeffman

I currently have a ICBC N licence and passed the BC road test, and was wondering if I traded it in for an Alberta License would I get a full license or a learners?

Thanks

I did BC to AB with my N two years ago and I got my GDL.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by flamesfan6

i'd assume that they still carry over, I remember reading rules that stated that all restrictions of an AB drivers carries over in BC for it's GDL. It's still a class 7 'n' license, just because you are in another province doesn't mean it changes

saying that, don't know if the police officers would know whether to check for that or not.

well i had a few run ins with cops while i had my BC "N" license, and they never said a word about the rules (i never displayed the green N, i was stopped a couple of times past midnight, 1 time with 3 people in the car). even if they're technically supposed to enforce those rules in Alberta, i bet most cops don't run into those situations often enough to remember them

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by jeffman

I currently have a ICBC N licence and passed the BC road test, and was wondering if I traded it in for an Alberta License would I get a full license or a learners?

Thanks

i would heavily recommend that you keep your BC license as long as you can in Alberta, at least until you're 25. if you're a student, then it's within the law to keep it for as long as you're in school. if you're not a student, pretend that you are and make the trip back to BC once a year to buy insurance. you'll save a ton of money and by the time you actually want to transfer your license over they'll most likely give you the full class 5 by then

[sharkov]

just do the test again. what are you afraid of? failure?

[jeffman]

Originally Posted by BCGirl

I did BC to AB with my N two years ago and I got my GDL.

Is the GDL the class 5 license?

[BCGirl]

Originally Posted by jeffman

Is the GDL the class 5 license?

Yes it is, but I its not the full class 5. I could be wrong on that though.

[jeffman]

Originally Posted by sharkov

just do the test again. what are you afraid of? failure?

You underestimate my lazyness

[flamesfan6]

Originally Posted by jeffman

You underestimate my lazyness

you do realize you'll need an AB address and technically be an alberta resident... if you are staying in BC good luck getting insured with ICBC ... and no alberta insurance is going to insure a BC car...

you're only allowed to have a AB car in BC for 6 months and be for leisure purposes

[calgaryred]

I had an N license with BC when I moved to Calgary they switched it to the GDL, had that for a couple years, then when I moved back to BC, they said you've driven enough and gave me a class 5.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

i would heavily recommend that you keep your BC license as long as you can in Alberta, at least until you're 25. if you're a student, then it's within the law to keep it for as long as you're in school. if you're not a student, pretend that you are and make the trip back to BC once a year to buy insurance. you'll save a ton of money and by the time you actually want to transfer your license over they'll most likely give you the full class 5 by then

Terrible advice. What if he does have an accident, and has to make a claim? Sure, a simple payout for a few thousand likely won't be an issue. But if he has a major accident you can bet ICBC will do an investigation to see how long he actually has been living here. If it's over 3 month, they can deny his claim. What's the point of having insurance if you aren't going to be covered for a major claim?

[Violator]

Nm

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

if you're not a student, pretend that you are and make the trip back to BC once a year to buy insurance. you'll save a ton of money and by the time you actually want to transfer your license over they'll most likely give you the full class 5 by then

It's a great way to save money if you never get into an accident but if you do it will not be worth the $1000 a year you saved. Not only that but if they cancel his insurance by finding out he may find it even harder and more expensive to get Alberta insurance (or any type of private insurance). If he somehow killed someone or injured them really badly his claim would be denied (ICBC isn't stupid they are very good at what they do) and he would personally have to pay that claim similar to how a drunk driver hitting someone. It's not a fun situation and you can't just go bankrupt over it to get out of it.

I'm sure tons of people do this every year because of the savings but it really isn't worth the risk IMO especially with the weather in Calgary.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Terrible advice. What if he does have an accident, and has to make a claim? Sure, a simple payout for a few thousand likely won't be an issue. But if he has a major accident you can bet ICBC will do an investigation to see how long he actually has been living here. If it's over 3 month, they can deny his claim. What's the point of having insurance if you aren't going to be covered for a major claim?

Not only that, but if they really want to be tightwads, they should register their car in
Saskatchewan.