Before you start

Valid foreign or out-of-province driver's licence, in the original
Proof of identity and of an Ontario address
Certified translation where the licence is not in English or French
A letter of experience from your previous insurer

Step-by-step

1
Check whether your jurisdiction exchanges directly
Ontario exchanges with every Canadian province and territory and with a specific list of countries. If yours is on it, an equivalent licence converts straight to a full Class G. If not, you enter graduated licensing — but read the next step before assuming that means a long wait.
OnlineWho: You
2
Claim the experience credit if you are not from an exchange country
Since 1 July 2026 you can claim a maximum of twelve months of driving experience by presenting an original, valid foreign licence. With twelve months credited you can take the G2 road test immediately, then wait at least a further twelve months before the full G road test. Bring the original — a recently reissued licence shows a recent date and loses you the credit you actually earned.
In personWho: YouG2 immediately; full G at least 12 months later
3
Book a DriveTest appointment, and consider a smaller centre nearby
Exchanges and road tests run through DriveTest centres. London's is busy, especially around the university and college intakes; centres in the surrounding towns — Strathroy, St. Thomas, Woodstock — often have earlier road test slots, and the test itself is identical. The difference can be months at peak.
OnlineWho: You
4
Quote insurance before you buy a car, and quote by postal code
Ontario auto insurance is private and heavily territory-rated. London is meaningfully cheaper than the Greater Toronto Area for the same driver and car, which is one of the underrated financial arguments for moving here. Quote through a broker as well as direct, and quote again at every renewal rather than letting it roll.
OnlineWho: You
5
Bring a letter of experience from your previous insurer
Documented claims-free years from abroad are credited by most Canadian insurers and can cut a premium substantially — but only against a letter from the former insurer stating the period and the claims record. Request it before you leave; obtaining it afterwards across time zones is genuinely difficult.
OnlineWho: You
6
Buy proper winter tyres, and learn what a squall warning means here
Ontario does not require winter tyres and London's snowbelt position makes them the difference between driving in January and not. Lake-effect bands off Lake Huron are stationary rather than passing: thirty centimetres on one township and nothing five kilometres away, with visibility dropping to nothing on the 401 and 402. Both close for it most winters. Ontario insurers give a mandated discount for winter tyres, which recovers part of the cost.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Original valid foreign or out-of-province licence
Passport and immigration documents
Proof of Ontario residential address
Certified translation, if the licence is not in English or French
Driving record or letter of authentication, where the exchange requires it
Letter of experience from your previous insurer

Things most newcomers don’t know

The 1 July 2026 experience credit is the most important recent change for anyone outside the exchange list.

Before it, drivers from non-agreement countries served a waiting period inside graduated licensing regardless of how long they had actually been driving. Now up to twelve months of foreign experience is credited on presentation of an original licence, which lets you sit the G2 straight away. Almost everything written before mid-2026 overstates how long you will be restricted.

Source: ServiceOntario — Exchange an out-of-province driver's licence

A closed 401 or 402 here is a stranded trip, not a slow one.

London is the hinge between the two highways, and lake-effect squalls off Huron shut them west of the city several times most winters — sometimes for many hours, occasionally overnight, with hundreds of vehicles held. There is no parallel motorway; the alternatives are two-lane county roads that are worse in the same conditions. Newcomers from cities where a highway closure means a diversion plan accordingly and are wrong. If a squall warning is out for Middlesex, Lambton or Huron, do not start the drive.

Source: community-reported, consistently corroborated

A G2 is not a learner's permit, and mistaking it for one costs a year of independence.

G2 holders drive alone, on any road, with restrictions on blood alcohol and on passengers for younger drivers. Newcomers frequently assume they cannot drive unaccompanied until the full G. In a city this spread out, where the bus network is being rebuilt around two corridors that will not carry service until 2027 at the earliest, that assumption narrows life considerably.

Source: MTO Driver's Handbook

London insurance is cheap by Ontario standards, and that is a real part of the cost comparison.

Ontario premiums are set by territory and the Greater Toronto Area — Brampton above all — pays multiples of what southwestern Ontario does for identical drivers. People comparing London to Mississauga usually compare rent and stop. Insurance, parking and the absence of a Toronto commute are the rest of the gap, and for a two-car household the insurance difference alone can run into four figures a year.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Relying on pre-July-2026 guidance about waiting periods for non-agreement jurisdictions.
Arriving without the original licence, or with a recently reissued one that hides your real experience.
Running all-season tyres through a snowbelt winter.
Setting off on the 401 or 402 with a squall warning out for Middlesex, Lambton or Huron.
Not requesting a claims-free letter from your home insurer before departing.
Assuming an International Driving Permit substitutes for an Ontario licence once you are a resident. It does not.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.