Student drivers can't find a road test appointment in Ottawa until 2022
Some Ottawa drivers are scrambling to find a road test appointment, as the Ontario government resumes in-vehicle road tests.
The government says there have been more than 400,000 road tests cancelled across the province due to closures during the entire pandemic. In-vehicle road tests resumed this week with COVID-19 restrictions in place, but appointments are hard to come by.
Elliot Gentle, 17, describes looking at the online booking system as "all X's until April of next year."
Gentle wants to book his G2 test as soon as possible, so he took the soonest appointment he could find, and his family will be driving him six hours away to do it.
"I currently have an appointment booked in Sudbury… in October, that was the only available time spots," says Gentle.
His mother Maria McLaughlin says they have spent hours online trying to book a test.
"(Sudbury) was the only spot within an eight-hour drive of Ottawa that had anything this year," said McLaughlin.
She says her son wants his licence to be more independent.
"He is saving his money to buy a car and is going to college next year," said McLaughlin.
The province says they are working on the backlog and are investing more than $16 million to increase road testing capacity at all DriveTest centres across the province. This includes hiring 167 additional driver examiners. This will be on top of nearly 100 temporary examiners the province announced back in the fall.
The province says they are also adding six temporary road-testing locations that will be located within a 30-minute driving radius from existing locations with the greatest demand. None are coming to Ottawa.
In a statement to CTV News Ottawa, the province says, "DriveTest is unable to prioritize customers with cancelled appointments. The current road test booking system does not have the functionality to prioritize road test appointments for specific individuals or groups."
Josh Schmidt spent hours online last week looking for an appointment and found a cancellation at the Walkley Road DriveTest location.
"I just looked all the time, I kept checking the site I checked so many different places, and I got lucky- someone must have cancelled so there was one test in the one day," said Schmidt.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Two killed after collision with truck on Hwy. 417 near Limoges, Ont.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.
Houston braces for flooding to worsen in wake of storms
High waters flooded neighborhoods around Houston on Saturday following heavy rains that have already resulted in crews rescuing hundreds of people from homes, rooftops and roads engulfed in murky water.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
What a U.S. farmworker’s case of bird flu tells us about tracking the infection
A U.S. farmworker who caught bird flu after working with dairy cattle in Texas appears to be the first known case of mammal-to-human transmission of the virus, a new study shows.
‘We made them safer and more fun’: Here’s what’s new about e-scooters
Electric scooters (e-scooters) have been gaining popularity in the capital and this season comes with some changes and updates.
Hulk Hogan, hurricanes and a blockbuster recording: A week in review of the Trump hush money trial
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Canadian Auger-Aliassime reaches first Masters final in Madrid with another walkover
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to his first ATP Masters final, and he hasn't had to play all that much tennis to do it.