Moving within Canada
I can no longer drive in Canada. This was news I got this evening courtesy of the Government of Quebec. Yep. My driver's license is now invalid. Let me explain.....
We recently moved back to Quebec from British Columbia, two provinces in Canada. This is not the first time we have moved within Canada as we also lived in Ontario for a few years and moved back and forth. Since Canada is a confederation of power hungry, independently minded, self interested provinces moving within this one country is quite the pain in the behind. Every time you need to get new license plates, a new driver's license, new car insurance, new medicare cards. You see in this country, provinces have a heck of a lot of powers. That in itself is not the problem but the issue is the lack of organization and acceptance of one province's standards in another. Different drugs and medical procedures are reimbursed, at different levels, in different provinces for example.
So back to my ability to drive. It turns out that you have ninety days to apply for a driver's license in your new province of residence. This I knew. So bad on us. We applied two days late. It turns out that in this particular province you need an appointment to get a license. For this you need to wait up to four weeks or go to an office that is, in our case, 80 kilometres away. We were also informed that our British Columbia driver's licenses are no longer valid. Can you believe this? A Canadian citizen, with a perfect driving record (ok I got fined for doing 60 kph in a 50 zone back in 1998) can no longer drive in Canada because he forgot to apply for a driver's license in a province within the same country!!
Of course getting a driver's license should have been a higher priority than finding a home, a school for my children, getting settled into a new job, etc. Shame on us.
Hmmm...shame on the federal government for allowing the provinces to have so much power and in allowing this great country to be fragmented by provincially minded bureaucrats and politicians who only think of getting their fair share of federal funding for programs all the while putting cogs in the wheels of the citizens of Canada.
Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!
We recently moved back to Quebec from British Columbia, two provinces in Canada. This is not the first time we have moved within Canada as we also lived in Ontario for a few years and moved back and forth. Since Canada is a confederation of power hungry, independently minded, self interested provinces moving within this one country is quite the pain in the behind. Every time you need to get new license plates, a new driver's license, new car insurance, new medicare cards. You see in this country, provinces have a heck of a lot of powers. That in itself is not the problem but the issue is the lack of organization and acceptance of one province's standards in another. Different drugs and medical procedures are reimbursed, at different levels, in different provinces for example.
So back to my ability to drive. It turns out that you have ninety days to apply for a driver's license in your new province of residence. This I knew. So bad on us. We applied two days late. It turns out that in this particular province you need an appointment to get a license. For this you need to wait up to four weeks or go to an office that is, in our case, 80 kilometres away. We were also informed that our British Columbia driver's licenses are no longer valid. Can you believe this? A Canadian citizen, with a perfect driving record (ok I got fined for doing 60 kph in a 50 zone back in 1998) can no longer drive in Canada because he forgot to apply for a driver's license in a province within the same country!!
Of course getting a driver's license should have been a higher priority than finding a home, a school for my children, getting settled into a new job, etc. Shame on us.
Hmmm...shame on the federal government for allowing the provinces to have so much power and in allowing this great country to be fragmented by provincially minded bureaucrats and politicians who only think of getting their fair share of federal funding for programs all the while putting cogs in the wheels of the citizens of Canada.
Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!
Comments
And again, good luck.....
MVP
Canada is so backwards in many regards. I feel like it is just as much work for me to move to another country altogether. Maybe one with less taxes :)