Temporary DriveTest centre in Guelph to address huge backlog in road tests

Arfan Shafique says he's heard from a lot of people in Guelph upset about the long wait to rebook a road test for their driver's licence.

Thedriving instructor at Guelph Driving Schoolsaid he's noticed many new drivers go to the city's driving test centre to tryto book an in-person exam becausethe online booking systemcrashes most times.

"They come from far away, some of them even walk to the centre in this weather or take a bus," he said in an interview. "When they come to the door, they say, 'There's no dates available.'"

Ontario's Ministry of Transportation has saidthere's a backlog of 700,000 road tests due to the pandemic. The province says18,473 road tests at the Kitchener DriveTest centre were cancelled,andin Guelph, that number is 17,838.

In-car tests resumed on June 14 and the province has taken other steps to address the backlog. They includeopening six temporary DriveTest centres, includingin Guelph to serve the city and Waterloo region.

The centres will also offer road testsseven days a week and will extendhours.

In the meantime, driving instructors like Shafique are working overtime so students receiveproper trainingto pass their tests.

"I have over five driving instructors [that are] teaching, so all of them are working around the clock to try to finish off what they have started before the lockdown," Shafique said."New students [are] coming in that want their licences as well."

Parents turned driving instructors

Adam Cate, a certified driving instructor at Ultimate Drivers Kitchener, said they are also working daily to deal with the backlog.

Cate said he has noticedparents have been put in the position of being driving instructors for their children.

"That adds pressure not only on the parents, but also the students,," Cate said."Parents are not trained to really instruct and set a good foundation for the students."

He said many students have booked tests, but are unable to get the proper driver's education to successfully passwith thetechniques they're taught at home.

Cate would like to see the province set up even more pop-up centres to help new drivers get their licencesand not try to rush through the appointments.

"The important thing is to do it properly, not just do it to get it done."