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Ontario G1 overview

G1 study guide: key rules on all 19 topics (Part 2)

Free Ontario G1 study guide: 772 key points from the Official MTO Driver's Handbook in plain words, organised by topic, each topic linked to its practice questions.

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Demerit points and keeping your licence

Demerit point values for common offences, novice and fully licensed driver thresholds, interviews and suspensions, and licence renewal.

Practise Demerit points and keeping your licence questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

Licence and renewal

  • Ontario uses a one-piece licence card with photo and signature; carry it whenever you drive and show it to police on request.
  • Renewal form arrives by mail; at ServiceOntario you sign, show ID, pay, get photographed; temporary licence on the spot if in order.
  • No renewal form? Call the Ministry; you are responsible for a valid licence.
  • A full G/GM licence expired for less than one year can normally be renewed without tests; novice licences have separate expiry rules.
  • Full G/GM expired 3–10 years: vision, knowledge and both road tests; normal graduated waiting periods waived. Over ten years: reapply as a new driver and serve waiting periods. Novice licence expiry is a separate rule.

Senior drivers age 80 or older

  • Age 80+: renew every 2 years.
  • Steps: watch senior driver education video, review the handbook, then book a ServiceOntario appointment.
  • Appointment: vision test + 5-minute screening exercise. May also need a road test or medical/vision info from a doctor/optometrist.
  • No charge for the renewal requirements; only the renewal fee.

Graduated licensing requalification

  • Novice classes: G1, G2, M1, M2. Except M1, novice drivers have 5 years to finish graduated licensing.
  • G1/G2/M2 about to expire unfinished: requalify by passing a test and paying the 5-year licensing fee. Otherwise reapply for Level One.

Changing your name or address

  • Tell the Ministry within 6 days of a name or address change. New licence needed; no charge.

Driver's licence laws

  • Illegal: lend your licence, let someone use it, use an altered one, use another's as your own, hold more than one Ontario licence, use a fake.

The demerit point system

  • Points stay on record 2 years from the offence date.
  • Level One/Two (novice): 2+ points = warning letter; 6 points = second warning letter; 9+ points in 2 years = 60-day suspension from when licence is surrendered.
  • Not surrendering: can lose licence up to 2 years.
  • After novice suspension, points reduced to 4; reaching 9 again may mean 6-month suspension.
  • Novice convicted of a novice-condition violation, a 4+ point offence, or a court-ordered suspension for a 4+ point offence: penalty plus Novice Driver Escalating Sanction suspension; points recorded as zero and not counted.
  • Fully licensed: 6 points = warning letter; 9 points = second warning letter; 15 points = 30-day suspension from surrender; points then reduced to 7; reaching 15 again = 6-month suspension.

Table of offences

  • 7: leaving the scene of a collision; failing to stop for police.
  • 6: careless driving; racing; 40+ km/h over on roads with limit under 80; 50+ km/h over; failing to stop for a school bus.
  • 5: bus driver not stopping at an unprotected railway crossing.
  • 4: 30-49 km/h over; following too closely; failing to stop at a pedestrian crossover.
  • 3: 16-29 km/h over; driving through/around/under a railway barrier; hand-held device or unrelated display screen; failing to yield; disobeying stop sign/light/railway signal; traffic control stop or slow sign; school crossing stop sign; police directions; wrong way on divided or one-way road; not reporting a collision to police; improper lane driving; crowding the driver's seat; closed road; crossing a divided road without proper crossing; not slowing/moving over for stopped emergency vehicle; radar detector; improper HOV lane use; improper door opening.
  • 2: not dimming high beams; prohibited turns; towing people (toboggans, bikes, skis); disobeying signs; failing to share the road; improper right/left turn; failing to signal; unnecessary slow driving; reversing on a highway; driver not wearing seatbelt; not securing infant/toddler/child; passenger under 16 without seatbelt or not in a seat with a belt.

Impaired driving and other suspensions

Alcohol and drug impairment, roadside suspensions, warn-range penalties, ignition interlock, stunt driving and street racing, and other ways to lose your licence.

Practise Impaired driving and other suspensions questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

Current provincial policy and source precedence

  • Source checked 2026-10-18: https://www.ontario.ca/page/impaired-driving . Current penalties take precedence over conflicting older handbook figures.
  • Drivers aged 21 or under and all novice drivers must have no alcohol or drugs in their system.
  • For young/novice zero-alcohol violations: immediate suspensions of 7 days first, 14 days second and 30 days third. Conviction can add 30 or 90 days or cancellation, depending on age and licence class.
  • Warn range: BAC 0.05–0.079. First occurrence: 7-day immediate suspension and 8-hour education course. Second: 14 days and 16-hour treatment. Third: 30 days with treatment and interlock requirements. Monetary penalties and reinstatement requirements also apply.
  • BAC 0.08 or more, or failure/refusal to comply with a lawful testing demand: immediate 90-day suspension and 7-day vehicle impoundment, with other sanctions. These are separate from criminal proceedings.
  • A first criminal impaired-driving conviction brings a suspension of at least one year, mandatory education or treatment, and an ignition interlock for at least one year. Later convictions can bring longer or lifetime suspensions. Do not treat an old handbook fine figure as a universal maximum.

Graduated-licensing sanctions

  • Qualifying novice violations within five years escalate: first conviction 30-day suspension, second 90 days, third cancellation. This covers novice restrictions and qualifying serious HTA offences.
  • Driving while under an HTA suspension adds six months to the suspension on conviction and can bring fines and jail. Violating a Criminal Code prohibition order brings a one-year suspension first and two years on a subsequent conviction.

Other suspensions and impoundment

  • HTA section 216(3): wilfully evading police during pursuit, on conviction and without death/bodily harm, brings a five-year suspension. Death or bodily harm has a different, longer rule. This is not the automatic penalty for every failure to stop.
  • A vehicle driven under a Criminal Code suspension is impounded for at least 45 days, including a borrowed, rented or business vehicle; the owner pays towing and storage. Driving without a required interlock brings seven-day impoundment.
  • A Criminal Code driving conviction remains on the driver record for at least ten years. Failure of a re-examination and certain unpaid reinstatement requirements can cause cancellation.
  • Current medical-reporting source: https://www.ontario.ca/page/medical-review-ontario-drivers . Physicians, optometrists and nurse practitioners have mandatory reporting duties for patients aged 16+ with specified high-risk conditions; not every health concern triggers mandatory reporting.

Impairment, care or control and remedial requirements

  • A vehicle need not be moving: impaired care or control can be an offence. Actual circumstances and a realistic risk of danger matter; mere presence after drinking is not an automatic conviction. Reference: Supreme Court of Canada, R. v. Boudreault, 2012 SCC 56.
  • Complete required education/treatment before reinstatement. The current reduced-suspension program still names Back on Track remedial measures: https://www.ontario.ca/page/reduced-suspension-ignition-interlock-conduct-review-program .
  • The handbook describes a driver-improvement interview for non-drinking Criminal Code driving convictions with no previous alcohol-related convictions.
  • Criminal Code sections 320.2 and 320.21: impaired driving causing bodily harm can carry a maximum of 14 years on indictment; causing death can carry life imprisonment.
  • Prescription and non-prescription drugs can impair driving. Read labels and ask a doctor or pharmacist about effects and interaction with alcohol.
  • According to the handbook, crashes at 50 km/h or more above the posted limit have almost five times the fatal/serious injury risk, and almost eight times on roads posted at 60 km/h or less. This is the handbook's stated comparison, not a new study by this site.

Your vehicle: maintenance, insurance and registration

Basic vehicle maintenance, tires and brakes, mandatory insurance, ownership permits, licence plates and what to carry.

Practise Your vehicle: maintenance, insurance and registration questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

overview

  • All motor vehicles on Ontario roads must be registered, insured and meet basic safety standards; the owner is responsible.

intro

  • Driving a vehicle in dangerous condition is illegal.
  • A police officer or MTO inspector can examine your vehicle, equipment and any attached trailer at any time; an unsafe vehicle may be taken off the road until fixed.

Driver habits

  • Approaching: fresh damage, fluid leaks, low/flat tires, open doors/hood/trunk/fuel door, unsecured loads, ice/snow/dirt on lights or windows.
  • From the seat before driving: clear visibility, dim/burned-out headlamps, warning lights come on at start then go out, loose objects.
  • While driving: unusual engine/exhaust noises, squeaking or grinding when braking, warning lights coming on.
  • Before a long trip: wipers and washer fluid, tire pressure and wear, all lights, under the hood with the engine cold (oil, coolant, belts, hoses, leaks), mechanic inspection.

Regular maintenance

  • Schedules based on mileage or time, whichever comes first (see owner's manual).

Winter maintenance

  • Emergency kit: shovel, booster cables, flares or warning lights, blanket, towing chain. Carry extra washer fluid.
  • Faulty exhaust is especially dangerous in winter (windows/vents closed); check if noisy or rattling.

Tires

  • Tires should not be older than 10 years (they deteriorate even unused).
  • Regulation 625 sets a 3 mm minimum for front tires on vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating over 4,500 kg, measured in the specified major grooves. The rule uses the vehicle’s weight rating, not simply its current load.
  • Replace tires with bumps, bulges, knots, exposed cords or cuts exposing cords.
  • Not smaller than manufacturer's minimum size; not so large it touches the vehicle.
  • Use similar tires on all four wheels; winter: four winter or all-weather tires with the same tread pattern recommended.
  • Compliant studded tires may be used by eligible Northern Ontario residents from September 1 through May 31. Regulation 625 also specifies other eligibility and visiting-vehicle conditions.
  • Longer tire life: right air pressure, inspect, rotate regularly, good driving habits.

Auto insurance

  • Insurance is compulsory for every registered vehicle; proof of insurance needed to register or renew registration.
  • FSRA regulates insurance in Ontario; RIBO regulates insurance brokers.

Registration

  • Registration = licence plates + vehicle permit.
  • Plate-to-owner system: plates go with the owner, not the vehicle; remove plates when selling or changing vehicles. Unused plates may be returned to ServiceOntario.

New residents

  • New residents have 30 days to register their vehicles at ServiceOntario. Bring: safety standards certificate, proof of insurance, Vehicle Import Forms (if from another country), previous permit/ownership.

Protect yourself from auto insurance fraud

  • Use licensed insurer/agent/broker.
  • After a collision: collect info (names, addresses, phones, plate and licence numbers, insurance, including passengers of other vehicles); take photos.
  • Be wary of a tow truck operator pressuring/paying you to use a particular shop, lawyer, paralegal or health provider; contact your insurer instead.
  • Don't sign blank forms; demand detailed repair and medical bills.

Written in our own words from: Official MTO Driver's Handbook

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