Ontario's Modified G Road Tests Might Temporarily Scrap Parallel Parking & More

Buckle up, future full license drivers! Ontarians taking their G road tests over the next couple of months might not get tested for some driving maneuvers that were already covered in the past exam.

This means you may not have to show your skills when it comes to parallel parking, roadside stops and three-point turns.

"DriveTest continues to test applicants on the fundamental elements of the G test, including driving abilities on major roads and expressways, including turns, intersections, driving in business areas and expressways," the press secretary for Ontario's transportation minister, Dakota Brasier, told Narcity via email.

"Road-side stops, 3 point turns and parallel parking, which are included in the G2 test, have been tested as part of the G test, but only at the examiner's discretion. As we temporarily pause these duplicative, discretionary components of the G test, we will continue to enforce the fundamentals of the G test while using modified, more direct routes to and from road test locations, which will enable a 30 per cent increase in appointments to be booked each day," Brasier wrote.

The Ministry of Transportation made the call to modify G road tests in order to tackle the bumper-to-bumper backlog of in-vehicle road tests caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to address the increased demand Ontarians have to hit the roads.

Ontarians will be offered these modified tests temporarily, up until at least March 31, 2022. As for G2 road tests, they will still be running the same without any changes.

On top of adjusting G road tests, the MTO has opened up temporary road test centres, hired over 250 temporary driver examiners, as well as extended the hours of operation at testing centres.

The ministry will keep an eye on testing and will extend that date if it is necessary.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.