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How to check your Ontario driving record

Knowing your driving history is important in understanding your potential car insurance rates. Figuring out how to check your Ontario driving record is a quick process that won’t cost you more than $12.00 in most cases. You can request it in multiple ways:

  • Online
  • Mail
  • Fax
  • In-person

During COVID-19 closures, however, we recommend ordering it online. Follow these steps to get your copy.

 

Different ways to check your Ontario driving record

The first thing you’ll need to determine is what kind of driving record you need. There are a lot of them! This is how insurance companies check driving records too, however, so it’s worth checking out your record.

  • 3-year driver’s record: The most commonly requested report, you’ll need this for driving outside the country as well as for driving a company vehicle.
  • Driver’s license history: A basic report typically used to confirm a driver’s education course, the driver’s address, and any suspensions.
  • 5-year driver’s record: Similar to the 3-year record, this is often requested by insurance companies to verify your long-term driving history.

 

A middle-aged woman checking her driving record online with a laptop.

 

  • Extended driver’s record: Most commonly needed for legal reasons to prove your long-term driving history (such as fighting a careless driving traffic violation).
  • Complete/freedom of information driver’s record: This report is a complete record of your driving history including driver identification details, Highway Traffic Act convictions, suspensions and reinstatements, all collisions, a list of residential addresses on record, all Criminal Code of Canada convictions, and demerit points. It’s mostly used for legal purposes.
  • Collision/accident report: This provides details about a specific collision, typically for a court case where the fault is being disputed. It shows the names of drivers involved, a description of the vehicles, and the road conditions. 
  • Copies of driver documents: Specific documents including your original license application, suspension notices, conviction reports, etc. used for legal purposes.
  • Driver confirmation letter: This is only required if you’re applying to drive in another country.
  • Driver’s license check: This is a free, simple check to confirm your driver’s license is currently valid, which can be done online right here.

Once you know which types of documents you need, then you’ll need to determine if you need a certified or uncertified driving record.

 

When do I need a certified driving record?

Any legal matters will require you to provide your certified driving record, which has the official Ministry of Transportation seal. An uncertified Ontario driving record has all of the same information, but it is for more informal uses such as applying for insurance.

Insurance companies can get the information they need with informal driving records because they’re looking for indicators of your driving behaviour. Specifically, they’re looking for things like these:

You can see the difference in cost for certified driving records vs uncertified in the next section below if you’d like to buy one, but rest assured: parking tickets don’t affect insurance rates.

 

Man in a suit and tie checking his driver's history online.

 

How long does it take to get my driving record?

When ordering a certified driving record, you can expect it to be mailed to you within 15 business days, being about three weeks. 

Is time a factor? If you request an uncertified driving record in-person or online, you’ll receive it immediately. Requests by mail or fax will still take up to three weeks, though.

 

Follow these 5 steps to order your Ontario driving record

Can’t visit a Service Ontario location? Follow these steps to order any of those driver’s history reports.

  1. Choose which type of driving record product you need.
  2. Determine whether you require a certified or uncertified version.
  3. If you are ordering online, you can do so directly following the product-specific link on the Government of Ontario website. Please note that the complete driver’s record and extended driver’s history cannot be ordered online. 
  4. For mail or fax orders, fill out the Record Search Application
  5. Print your complete application and submit by faxing it to (416) 235-4009 or mailing it to the address below:

Ministry of Transportation
Licensing Administration and Support Office
Information and Data Retrieval Unit
87 Sir William Hearst Avenue
Room 158-D
Toronto, ON
M3M 0B4

When ordering online, you must pay using VISA or Mastercard. For In-person at Service Ontario, you may pay using cash, debit, certified cheque, or money order made payable to the Minister of Finance. You may pay by regular uncertified cheque only if you order by mail.

For more details on the types of records and how to order them, visit the official Government of Ontario site.

 

How much does it cost for a copy of your driving record?

Although many Canadians think it shouldn’t cost anything to access, there is a small administrative fee associated with retrieving your Ontario driving record. 

You can see in the chart below that the cost differs depending on which record you need and whether or not it needs to be certified. Take a look!

 

A price chart comparing the licensed and unlicensed records for various driving history reports from the Ontario Government.

 

Why would I need my driving record?

There are several reasons why you might need to produce a driving record, but the most common for Canadians are:

  • Defending yourself in court from a distracted driving charge (or a similar incident).
  • Defending yourself in court against a traffic violation.
  • Applying for a new job that requires you to drive a company vehicle or to have a valid drivers license. 
  • Applying to drive in another province or country.
  • Applying for an auto insurance policy that requires verification of your long-term driving history (aha insurance retrieves this for you automatically).
  • Renewing your auto insurance policy with major changes, such as adding a new driver, getting a new car, driving a work-owned vehicle, or retiring (again, aha insurance does this for you automatically).

 

You’re all set to find your Ontario driving record. You’ll have it in no time!

Seriously, what else can you do in 3 minutes?

Boil half an egg?

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