{
  "site": "https://drivingschools.nl",
  "page": "https://drivingschools.nl/exchange/canada",
  "checker": "https://drivingschools.nl/check#c=CA",
  "rules_version": "1.2.2",
  "verified": "2026-09-02",
  "code": "CA",
  "name": "Canada",
  "group": "OTHER",
  "rule_class": "region",
  "verdict": "It depends on the region that issued the licence. Pick yours in the checker below.",
  "exchangeable_categories": [],
  "licence_script": "latin",
  "subdivision_prompt": "Which province or territory issued your licence?",
  "subdivisions": [
    {
      "code": "CA-AB",
      "name": "Alberta",
      "url": "https://drivingschools.nl/exchange/canada-alberta.json"
    },
    {
      "code": "CA-QC",
      "name": "Québec",
      "url": "https://drivingschools.nl/exchange/canada-quebec.json"
    },
    {
      "code": "CA-OTHER",
      "name": "Another province or territory",
      "url": "https://drivingschools.nl/exchange/canada-other-provinces-and-territories.json"
    }
  ],
  "answers": {
    "can_i_exchange_it": "It depends on where in Canada your licence was issued; the rules differ per region. Use the checker below to pick yours.",
    "how_long_can_i_drive_on_it": "185 days from the date you register at a Dutch address (BRP registration). After that, you need a Dutch licence to drive here.",
    "translation": "Latin script: no translation needed."
  },
  "international_driving_permit": {
    "question": "Which International Driving Permit can Canada issue, and do I need one?",
    "answer": "The RDW never requires an International Driving Permit for your 185 days; it advises one when the categories on your licence are not labelled A, B, C, D, E, so that they can be read. The permit is a translation of your licence, obtained in the issuing country, and it never extends the 185 days. Canada is a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (since 23 December 1965). It is not a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. Its permit follows the 1949 model and is valid for one year from the date of issue. The Netherlands is a party to both conventions, so the 1949 permit is recognised here.",
    "status": "geneva_only",
    "vienna_1968": null,
    "geneva_1949": {
      "date": "1965-12-23",
      "type": "accession"
    },
    "sources": [
      {
        "label": "RDW, driving with a foreign driving licence",
        "url": "https://www.rdw.nl/en/driving-licence/foreign-driving-licence/driving-with-a-foreign-driving-licence",
        "verified": "2026-09-07"
      },
      {
        "label": "UN Treaty Collection, 1949 Convention on Road Traffic: status",
        "url": "https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsV.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XI-B-1&chapter=11&Temp=mtdsg5&clang=_en",
        "verified": "2026-09-07"
      },
      {
        "label": "1949 Convention on Road Traffic, Annex 10 (validity of the permit)",
        "url": "https://treaties.un.org/doc/Treaties/1952/03/19520326%2003-36%20PM/Ch_XI_B_1_2_3.pdf",
        "verified": "2026-09-07"
      }
    ]
  },
  "licence_categories": {
    "note": "The Dutch column is the closest Dutch category, not an official equivalence: the RDW decides on exchange what a category becomes, and via the 30% ruling only the categories on the licence come across. During your 185 days, your own licence and its own categories are what count.",
    "reading_note": "There is no national Canadian licence: each province issues its own, and the same class name means different things. Ontario uses letters (G is the car licence, A the tractor-trailer licence); Alberta and Québec use numbers (Class 5 is the car licence in both, and those two are the ones the RDW lists, see the facts above). Québec's own pages could not be read; see the open points. That is the case in which the RDW advises an International Driving Permit, so the classes can be read.",
    "rows": [
      {
        "code": "Class G (Ontario)",
        "means": "Any car, van, small truck, or combination of vehicle and towed vehicle up to 11,000 kg, provided the towed vehicle is not over 4,600 kg; G1 and G2 are the graduated stages.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "B"
        ],
        "note": "Dutch B stops at 3,500 kg and a 750 kg trailer; an Ontario G reaches into Dutch C1 and BE."
      },
      {
        "code": "Class M (Ontario)",
        "means": "Any motorcycle, including motor tricycles, limited-speed motorcycles (scooters) and mopeds; with the L condition, limited-speed motorcycles and mopeds only.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "A"
        ],
        "note": "M with the L condition: AM."
      },
      {
        "code": "Class D (Ontario)",
        "means": "A motor vehicle over 11,000 kg gross weight, or any truck or combination where the towed vehicle is not over 4,600 kg.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "C"
        ]
      },
      {
        "code": "Class A (Ontario)",
        "means": "Any tractor-trailer combination; also class D and G vehicles.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "CE"
        ]
      },
      {
        "code": "Class B, C, E, F (Ontario)",
        "means": "Buses: B any school-purposes bus, C any regular bus, E a school bus up to 24 passengers, F a regular bus up to 24 passengers and ambulances.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "D"
        ],
        "note": "Dutch D1 stops at 16 passengers, so all four sit under D."
      },
      {
        "code": "Class 5 (Alberta)",
        "means": "A 2-axle single motor vehicle, towing a trailer without air brakes; a motorhome without air brakes. Class 5-GDL is the probationary stage, held for at least 2 years.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "B"
        ],
        "note": "Set by axles, not mass: a 2-axle truck over 3,500 kg is still Class 5 in Alberta and Dutch C1 here."
      },
      {
        "code": "Class 6 (Alberta)",
        "means": "A motorcycle or moped; Class 5 vehicles as a learner only. A road test on a three-wheeler limits the licence to three-wheelers.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "A"
        ]
      },
      {
        "code": "Class 4 (Alberta)",
        "means": "A taxi, ambulance or bus seating fewer than 25 people including the driver; everything in Class 5.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "D1"
        ],
        "note": "Dutch D1 stops at 16 passengers; a 24-seat bus is Dutch D."
      },
      {
        "code": "Class 3 (Alberta)",
        "means": "A single motor vehicle with 3 or more axles, towing a trailer without air brakes; everything in Class 5.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "C"
        ]
      },
      {
        "code": "Class 2 (Alberta)",
        "means": "A bus; everything in Class 3, 4 and 5.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "D"
        ]
      },
      {
        "code": "Class 1 (Alberta)",
        "means": "Any motor vehicle other than a motorcycle.",
        "closest_dutch": [
          "CE",
          "DE"
        ],
        "note": "Every combination; CE for goods, DE for a bus."
      },
      {
        "code": "Class 7 (Alberta)",
        "means": "The learner's licence: Class 5 vehicles and motorcycles with a supervisor, held for at least a year before the probationary Class 5.",
        "closest_dutch": [],
        "note": "A learner's licence is not a full licence."
      }
    ],
    "code_78": "If you take the Dutch practical exam in an automatic, the Dutch licence gets code 78: automatic only. Removing it means a new practical exam in a manual car.",
    "document": [
      "An Ontario licence is valid for 5 years and renewed every 5 years.",
      "An Alberta licence is valid for one to 5 years, depending on the class, medical status and age."
    ],
    "open_points": [
      "Québec: the SAAQ site answers requests from outside Canada with a block page, and the Québec statute portal (LégisQuébec, the regulation on the classes of driver's licences) returned 403 on 13 September 2026. The Québec classes are not in the table; the RDW's own line (Classe 5, véhicule de promenade) is in the facts above. Re-read the SAAQ page on the classes of driver's licence when reachable.",
      "The Dutch column is our judgement: Ontario G (11,000 kg) and Alberta Class 5 (any 2-axle vehicle) to B; Ontario D and Alberta Class 3 to C; Ontario A and Alberta Class 1 to CE; the bus classes to D or D1 by seats; Alberta Class 7 (learner) to none.",
      "No automatic-only condition appears on the Ontario and Alberta pages read; none rather than assumed. The other provinces and territories were not read.",
      "Alberta's Class 1 to 4 definitions are read from the commercial-licence page, which summarises the Operator Licensing and Vehicle Control Regulation; the regulation itself was not read."
    ],
    "followup": "https://github.com/reede-web/drivingschools/issues/133",
    "sources": [
      {
        "label": "Ontario.ca (Ministry of Transportation), bus handbook: licence classes and combinations (A to G, M)",
        "url": "https://www.ontario.ca/document/official-ministry-transportation-mto-bus-handbook/licence-classes-and-combinations",
        "verified": "2026-09-13",
        "side": "foreign"
      },
      {
        "label": "Alberta.ca, get a Class 5 driver's licence: what Class 5 and Class 5-GDL allow",
        "url": "https://www.alberta.ca/class-5-drivers-licence",
        "verified": "2026-09-13",
        "side": "foreign"
      },
      {
        "label": "Alberta.ca, get a Class 6 motorcycle licence",
        "url": "https://www.alberta.ca/class-6-motorcycle-licence",
        "verified": "2026-09-13",
        "side": "foreign"
      },
      {
        "label": "Alberta.ca, obtaining a commercial licence: Class 1, 2, 3 and 4",
        "url": "https://www.alberta.ca/upgrade-commercial-licence",
        "verified": "2026-09-13",
        "side": "foreign"
      },
      {
        "label": "Ontario.ca, renew your driver's licence: valid for 5 years",
        "url": "https://www.ontario.ca/page/renew-drivers-licence",
        "verified": "2026-09-13",
        "side": "foreign"
      },
      {
        "label": "Alberta.ca, renew or replace a driver's licence: valid one to 5 years",
        "url": "https://www.alberta.ca/renew-replace-drivers-licence",
        "verified": "2026-09-13",
        "side": "foreign"
      },
      {
        "label": "RDW, rijbewijscategorieën",
        "url": "https://www.rdw.nl/het-rijbewijs/over-het-rijbewijs/rijbewijscategorieen",
        "verified": "2026-09-08",
        "side": "dutch"
      },
      {
        "label": "CBR, wat betekent code 78",
        "url": "https://www.cbr.nl/nl/veelgestelde-vragen/wat-betekent-code-78",
        "verified": "2026-09-08",
        "side": "dutch"
      }
    ]
  },
  "worked_example": null,
  "cost": null,
  "timeline": null,
  "country_notes": [
    {
      "text": "Only Alberta and Québec licences are on the RDW's agreement list. A licence from any other province or territory takes the exams route, or exchange via the 30% ruling.",
      "source": "https://www.rdw.nl/en/driving-licence/foreign-driving-licence/exchanging-a-foreign-driving-licence",
      "verified": "2026-09-06"
    },
    {
      "text": "Canadian licences show classes such as Class 5 or Class G rather than the European letters. The RDW advises an International Driving Permit when the categories are not A, B, C, D, E.",
      "source": "https://www.rdw.nl/en/driving-licence/foreign-driving-licence/driving-with-a-foreign-driving-licence",
      "verified": "2026-09-06"
    }
  ],
  "common_mistakes": [],
  "sources": [
    {
      "label": "RDW, exchange checklist (Dutch)",
      "url": "https://www.rdw.nl/het-rijbewijs/buitenlands-rijbewijs/buitenlands-rijbewijs-omwisselen"
    },
    {
      "label": "RDW, exchanging a foreign driving licence (English)",
      "url": "https://www.rdw.nl/en/driving-licence/foreign-driving-licence/exchanging-a-foreign-driving-licence"
    },
    {
      "label": "RDW, driving with a foreign driving licence (English)",
      "url": "https://www.rdw.nl/en/driving-licence/foreign-driving-licence/driving-with-a-foreign-driving-licence"
    }
  ],
  "terms": "Guidance, not legal advice. Every entry carries the official page it was read from and the date it was read. The RDW checklist is the authority; where the rules encode a conservative reading, the entry says so. When you use this data, cite the page URL and the rules version. Corrections: hello@drivingschools.nl."
}