The Ontario government announced Monday it will open two temporary road test sites in an effort to clear the backlog of G2 and G class licence exams due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One centre will open in Guelph with another in Oshawa on Aug. 9.
The Oshawa location will run seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., exclusively for G2 and G road tests.
Meanwhile, the Guelph location will operate five days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in August, also offering only G2 and G road exams. Operations will expand to seven days a week starting in November.
Four more temporary locations are expected to open in September, officials said, although an exact date was not revealed. The centres will serve Toronto; Hamilton and Niagara; Mississauga and Brampton; and York and Durham regions.
People who arrive for their road tests will be required to wear face masks inside the centres and during the exam, sanitize their hands, and vehicle windows need to be open to ensure proper airflow in the vehicle, officials said.
Customers will also need to complete a screening form and may be required to provide a contact number in case of contact tracing.
Staff at the centres will wear personal protective equipment, and examiners will also have face shields and sanitizer packages with seat covers when conducting road tests.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person road tests were suspended due to lockdown measures as cases surged which resulted in a high demand for tests due to thousands of cancelled appointments that needed to be rescheduled.
Road testing resumed in Ontario on June 14.
“We are taking concrete action to clear the road test backlog, and that includes opening temporary road test centres so people who need tests can get one as soon as possible,” Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney said.
“As Ontario continues to head in the right direction in the fight against COVID-19, we have an aggressive plan in place to hire additional temporary driver examiners, open additional centres to offer road testing, and extend weekday operating hours for passenger road testing, including weekends,” she said.
Bookings for road exams can be made online at DriveTest.ca, the government said.