Renfrew, Ont. DriveTest centre to cut hours despite major test backlog
Despite hundreds of thousands of backlogged passenger road tests across Ontario, the Renfrew DriveTest Centre is set to cut its hours in half in November.
"Ever since the lockdowns have happened there's a lineup out the door most times of the day, any given day of the week," says Tauney Stinson, the co-owner of New Directions Driving School in Cobden, who is fighting to keep the hours at the Renfrew location.
"Now DriveTest basically told me that they're not going to let anyone know whether or not they're staying open until at least the first week of November, including their staff," Stinson tells CTV News.
In correspondence between Stinson and DriveTest, obtained by CTV Ottawa, DriveTest says that customer demand at smaller testing locations, such as Renfrew, was behind the reduction of hours.
Currently across Ontario as of October 1, 2021, the Ministry of Transportation says there is a backlog of 550,422 passenger road tests. Since March 2020, there have been approximately 421,827 road tests cancelled across the province. There was no backlog prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a spokesperson for the MTO confirmed on Wednesday.
"Students of mine can't get a road test booked until May of 2022, or sometimes later," says Stinson, whose businesses educates about 150 to 200 students every year.
DriveTest also says as smaller testing centres reduce hours, temporary testing centres will begin opening. One of those temporary sites will open in Ottawa as of Oct. 18, with DriveTest saying it will support Ottawa, Winchester, Smiths Falls, Renfrew, and other surrounding communities. It's a move Stinson doesn't understand.
"A temporary site in Ottawa would basically be a portable with a port-a-potty," says Stinson, pointing to other temporary centres already in operation. "At this location there wouldn't be any truck tests, bus tests, and there's wouldn't be any G1 written tests of any kind," adds the driving instructor, all of which are offered at full-time sites, like Renfrew.
Stinson created a petition in order to put pressure on the centre to keep its current hours, which are Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
B.C. man fighting for refund after finding someone living at Whistler vacation rental
Edwin Mostered spent thousands of dollars booking a vacation home in Whistler, B.C., for a group skiing trip earlier this year – or so he thought.
Avs forward Valeri Nichushkin suspended at least six months
Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin was suspended for at least six months without pay and placed in Stage 3 of the league's player assistance program.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Mortgage companies could intensify the next recession, U.S. officials warn
U.S. officials worry the next recession could be intensified by a cascading series of failures in the mortgage industry caused by crashing home prices, frozen financial markets and soaring delinquencies.