Automotive

Keeping non Ontario license

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  • Oct 7th, 2015 7:37 pm
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Deal Guru
Feb 4, 2015
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Keeping non Ontario license

Ok, need to settle a wager I have with my cousin.

He has been resident in Ontario for about four years BUT has not exchanged his US license for Ontario. He just got photo card.

I have been telling him to exchange as I understand need to after 60 days in Ontario as resident let alone four years!!

His response has been that he does not own a vehicle either in Canada or US but because his work takes him to US on regular basis he needs to have US license per his work agreement. He rents vehicle through corporate account when in US [needs to drive extensively to conduct audits in various cities and towns].

Now he does NOT ever drive in Ontario; I can pretty much confirm that as I get to be chauffeur for him whenever he needs to go somewhere far for personal reasons. Company covers taxi costs for him while in Ontario for work related trips.

Have been suggesting to him to exchange license now and even refused to drive him several times.

Am I getting him in trouble if he takes my advice? Would MTO accept his explanation or not? He says it is a grey area and I say it is clear as day that needs to exchange US license for Ontario.

A full course dinner downtown is on the line!! Of course I drive.

Thanks.
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Sep 21, 2010
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georvu wrote: Ok, need to settle a wager I have with my cousin.

He has been resident in Ontario for about four years BUT has not exchanged his US license for Ontario. He just got photo card.

I have been telling him to exchange as I understand need to after 60 days in Ontario as resident let alone four years!!

His response has been that he does not own a vehicle either in Canada or US but because his work takes him to US on regular basis he needs to have US license per his work agreement. He rents vehicle through corporate account when in US [needs to drive extensively to conduct audits in various cities and towns].

Now he does NOT ever drive in Ontario; I can pretty much confirm that as I get to be chauffeur for him whenever he needs to go somewhere far for personal reasons. Company covers taxi costs for him while in Ontario for work related trips.

Have been suggesting to him to exchange license now and even refused to drive him several times.

Am I getting him in trouble if he takes my advice? Would MTO accept his explanation or not? He says it is a grey area and I say it is clear as day that needs to exchange US license for Ontario.

A full course dinner downtown is on the line!! Of course I drive.

Thanks.
I don't understand the question: what do you mean by "exchange"? It seems to imply that you think he needs to give up his US licence in order to get the Ontario one, which is not true. Anyway, if he doesn't drive at all in Ontario, he's not compelled to get a licence here.
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tranquility922 wrote: I don't understand the question: what do you mean by "exchange"? It seems to imply that you think he needs to give up his US licence in order to get the Ontario one, which is not true. Anyway, if he doesn't drive at all in Ontario, he's not compelled to get a licence here.
He is Ontario resident for four years and role at work will change soon so much less travel to US. That means he will need to get car in Ontario because I will not be driving him everywhere :)

Therefore can he still exchange US license for Ontario license without any kind of penalty? I am afraid he will keep status quo and get in trouble when his role changes and need to be in Ontario; he could not purchase a vehicle here anyways with Ontario license, right??
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Aug 11, 2008
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If he ever wants a car in ontario, he will be required to have an ontario drivers lic in order to get ontario insurance.
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Jan 20, 2014
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Speaking from personal experience, when you apply for an Ontario license you have to surrender you current non-Ontario one.

You can own, register, and rent a car with a non Ontario license. The only people that will give him grief are cops. They might fine him because you are supposed to change it within 60 days of taking up residency.

If he does not have an Ontario address or does not intend to own a car, he does not need an Ontario license.
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AtlsNBP wrote: Speaking from personal experience, when you apply for an Ontario license you have to surrender you current non-Ontario one.

You can own, register, and rent a car with a non Ontario license. The only people that will give him grief are cops. They might fine him because you are supposed to change it within 60 days of taking up residency.

If he does not have an Ontario address or does not intend to own a car, he does not need an Ontario license.
^^^ This.

If anything, his potential issue is with the State that has issued his license - they may have residency rules that he's breaking by living here but still using a license issued by a State that he no longer resides in. At some point, when it expires, he may have to lie on the renewal forms by claiming falsely that he still lives in the State. Though, if he still has a legit mailing address there he may get away with it
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AtlsNBP wrote: Speaking from personal experience, when you apply for an Ontario license you have to surrender you current non-Ontario one.

You can own, register, and rent a car with a non Ontario license. The only people that will give him grief are cops. They might fine him because you are supposed to change it within 60 days of taking up residency.

If he does not have an Ontario address or does not intend to own a car, he does not need an Ontario license.
^^^ This.

If anything, his potential issue is with the State that has issued his license - they may have residency rules that he's breaking by living here but still using a license issued by a State that he no longer resides in. At some point, when it expires, he may have to lie on the renewal forms by claiming falsely that he still lives in the State. Though, if he still has a legit mailing address there he may get away with it
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AtlsNBP wrote: Speaking from personal experience, when you apply for an Ontario license you have to surrender you current non-Ontario one.

You can own, register, and rent a car with a non Ontario license. The only people that will give him grief are cops. They might fine him because you are supposed to change it within 60 days of taking up residency.

If he does not have an Ontario address or does not intend to own a car, he does not need an Ontario license.
Has Ontario address hence why I kept advising to exchange.

Just do not know if that gets him in trouble with MTO since got photo card instead of exchanging US license four years ago.

Did not know could own, register, a car with a non Ontario license.
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AtlsNBP wrote: Speaking from personal experience, when you apply for an Ontario license you have to surrender you current non-Ontario one.

You can own, register, and rent a car with a non Ontario license. The only people that will give him grief are cops. They might fine him because you are supposed to change it within 60 days of taking up residency.

If he does not have an Ontario address or does not intend to own a car, he does not need an Ontario license.
Are you sure about that? If true, that's weird, why would they care if you have a licence elsewhere? When I got my ON one again they didn't ask me about other licences.
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Jan 20, 2014
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georvu wrote: Has Ontario address hence why I kept advising to exchange.

Just do not know if that gets him in trouble with MTO since got photo card instead of exchanging US license four years ago.

Did not know could own, register, a car with a non Ontario license.
MTO doesn't care. When I lived in Alberta I only exchanged my license after living there for 9 months
tranquility922 wrote: Are you sure about that? If true, that's weird, why would they care if you have a licence elsewhere? When I got my ON one again they didn't ask me about other licences.
It opens doors for someone to commit fraud that has 2 valid driver's license. If you have 2 valid drivers license when a cop pulls you over, you're going to have a long day.
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Nov 17, 2004
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AtlsNBP wrote:
It opens doors for someone to commit fraud that has 2 valid driver's license. If you have 2 valid drivers license when a cop pulls you over, you're going to have a long day.
This is true. But at the same time, there is no way to actually check. When I lived in NYC, I exchanged my Ontario drivers license to a NY state one (the only way to get a full license without going through the licensing procedure) so that I could get cheaper insurance on a car that I bought down there (out of state licenses get almost twice as expensive insurance iirc), but out of some fluke, I had an extra Ontario one, so I kept that one too. It was a good thing because I also had a Canadian car as well still and Canadian insurance on that car. The one thing that I made sure to do though, was never carry both licenses at once. Depending on which car I was driving, I would carry the corresponding license just in case I got pulled over.

On one occasion on a trip out to MA, I got pulled over in Rhode Island though, in a NY state car/plate with Ontarion Drivers License and the cop let me go with only a warning because he wasn't sure what to do. Had he really wanted to be an ass an had the time though, I could have gotten in a lot of trouble.
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Jan 20, 2014
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I agree there is no way to check but MTO has to do their due diligence. If you manage to get a license in the mail right after you surrendered your current one, then it's out of their hands. But they do have it on record that they gave you a new license and also took your old one.

Same thing with registrations. If you register an out of province car you need to surrender your out of province insurance in order to get one from the province in which you are registering.
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georvu wrote: Ok, need to settle a wager I have with my cousin.

He has been resident in Ontario for about four years BUT has not exchanged his US license for Ontario. He just got photo card.

I have been telling him to exchange as I understand need to after 60 days in Ontario as resident let alone four years!!

His response has been that he does not own a vehicle either in Canada or US but because his work takes him to US on regular basis he needs to have US license per his work agreement. He rents vehicle through corporate account when in US [needs to drive extensively to conduct audits in various cities and towns].

Now he does NOT ever drive in Ontario; I can pretty much confirm that as I get to be chauffeur for him whenever he needs to go somewhere far for personal reasons. Company covers taxi costs for him while in Ontario for work related trips.

Have been suggesting to him to exchange license now and even refused to drive him several times.

Am I getting him in trouble if he takes my advice? Would MTO accept his explanation or not? He says it is a grey area and I say it is clear as day that needs to exchange US license for Ontario.

A full course dinner downtown is on the line!! Of course I drive.

Thanks.
If he doesn't drive here, then he doesn't have to exchange his license. If he goes back to the US every 90 days he could probably even keep a US registered and insured car here.

The only reason you have to surrender your license is if you want to get your full license here without going through the graduated licensing. If one was to start from scratch there is no way the MTO would know if someone would have a current out of province license.

You owe him dinner.
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BeaverLiquor wrote: If he doesn't drive here, then he doesn't have to exchange his license. If he goes back to the US every 90 days he could probably even keep a US registered and insured car here.

The only reason you have to surrender your license is if you want to get your full license here without going through the graduated licensing. If one was to start from scratch there is no way the MTO would know if someone would have a current out of province license.

You owe him dinner.

Do not mind the dinner :) He has bought me plenty; actually he is buying tonight!!

He will need to get full Ontario license as work will no longer require regular US travel.

What I am not sure of is will MTO allow exchange of US license for Ontario license since he could have done that four years ago when became Ontario resident but instead chose to get Ontario photo ID card.

Pretty sure he is not only one with this issue; probably not many though.
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georvu wrote: Do not mind the dinner :) He has bought me plenty; actually he is buying tonight!!

He will need to get full Ontario license as work will no longer require regular US travel.

What I am not sure of is will MTO allow exchange of US license for Ontario license since he could have done that four years ago when became Ontario resident but instead chose to get Ontario photo ID card.

Pretty sure he is not only one with this issue; probably not many though.
Doubt the MTO would bat an eye, and if they do he has a legit excuse.
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AtlsNBP wrote: It opens doors for someone to commit fraud that has 2 valid driver's license. If you have 2 valid drivers license when a cop pulls you over, you're going to have a long day.
I guess that I'm naive as to what kind of fraud could be committed w/ >1 licence?

CensoredByRFD wrote: This is true. But at the same time, there is no way to actually check. When I lived in NYC, I exchanged my Ontario drivers license to a NY state one (the only way to get a full license without going through the licensing procedure) so that I could get cheaper insurance on a car that I bought down there (out of state licenses get almost twice as expensive insurance iirc), but out of some fluke, I had an extra Ontario one, so I kept that one too. It was a good thing because I also had a Canadian car as well still and Canadian insurance on that car. The one thing that I made sure to do though, was never carry both licenses at once. Depending on which car I was driving, I would carry the corresponding license just in case I got pulled over.

On one occasion on a trip out to MA, I got pulled over in Rhode Island though, in a NY state car/plate with Ontarion Drivers License and the cop let me go with only a warning because he wasn't sure what to do. Had he really wanted to be an ass an had the time though, I could have gotten in a lot of trouble.
Yes, but they can't physically check your everything to make 100% sure you have >1 licence. Just produce the appropriate licence for the jurisdiction. I still don't get it.
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georvu wrote: Do not mind the dinner :) He has bought me plenty; actually he is buying tonight!!

He will need to get full Ontario license as work will no longer require regular US travel.

What I am not sure of is will MTO allow exchange of US license for Ontario license since he could have done that four years ago when became Ontario resident but instead chose to get Ontario photo ID card.

Pretty sure he is not only one with this issue; probably not many though.
Why wouldn't they allow it?

He needs an Ontario license once he chooses to register a car in Ontario and drive it in Ontario. If he wasn't doing that for four years, he had no cause to get one then. Now that he wants to, the province has no interest in disallowing it (it's in compliance with MTO).

Even me, personally, I kept my US-registered car (parents' name) and US license while on student visa in Ontario. I didn't have to change it until I needed to purchase & register a car in my name in Ontario while on work visa pending PR, 4 years later.
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You cannot carry two drivers licence.
But I don't think he'll get into trouble for not surrendering it 4 years ago.
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georvu wrote: Do not mind the dinner :) He has bought me plenty; actually he is buying tonight!!

He will need to get full Ontario license as work will no longer require regular US travel.

What I am not sure of is will MTO allow exchange of US license for Ontario license since he could have done that four years ago when became Ontario resident but instead chose to get Ontario photo ID card.

Pretty sure he is not only one with this issue; probably not many though.
Getting an Ontario ID card is much simpler than exchanging the licence. Tell your coworker that when he does want to switch over, he will need to provide a driver abstract from the surrendering state. That abstract MUST BE an original print; it cannot be scanned or faxed over. He will need to either have it sent via mail or pick it up person.
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Wpegger wrote: You cannot carry two drivers licence.
But I don't think he'll get into trouble for not surrendering it 4 years ago.
Can someone please confirm on this pt finally? Personally, no one told me to reveal and 'give up' any other licences that I might have when I got my ON one. I would have thought that having >1 driving licences is similar to being a citizen of and having passports to >1 nation.

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