The Alberta road test

Alberta's only passenger road test. Passing it gives you a probationary Class 5-GDL licence.

First: do you need this test?

Moving to Alberta with a licence from another country? You may be able to exchange it and skip this test.

Check the exchange rules →

12months
Wait before the test: 45minutes
Length

01The rule that decides your date

12 months of waiting

That time is counted from the day you get your learner's licence, not from your first lesson.
You can start at 16.
No practice hours to log. The wait is the requirement, not a number of hours behind the wheel.

02What this test covers

Drivers over 65 are not required to complete a parallel park.

Handling the vehicle: steering, braking and speed control
Selecting the proper lane for turns
Observing and obeying speed zones
Determining right-of-way at intersections and while changing lanes
Intersections with and without sign and signal controls
Interacting with other road users in a non-obstructive manner
Parking: perpendicular, uphill or downhill, and parallel
Identifying and operating your vehicle's controls

03On the day

What to bring to the Class 5 GDL road test

Everything below comes from the authority's own page, not a generic checklist.

Documents and items

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Your vehicle must have

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Note: Alberta Transportation does not publish official figures for the fee or the retake wait. There is no province-wide fee. Alberta states that passenger road tests are delivered by examiners contracted to private registry agents, that registry agents set their own fees, and that they must publish those fees online. Contact your local registry office for its price.

04The things that catch people out

Alberta scrapped its second road test in 2023

Effective 1 April 2023, Alberta no longer requires the advanced road test to exit graduated licensing. Plenty of sites still describe a two-test Alberta. What remains is a 24-month probationary period, which can be shortened by up to 6 months by completing a driver training program from an Alberta-licensed school, plus 12 months free of suspensions and demerits.

There is no Alberta road test fee to quote

Alberta is the only jurisdiction we found with no province-wide passenger road test fee. Tests are delivered by driver examiners contracted to private registry agents, and each agent sets and publishes its own price. Any single figure you see quoted for “the Alberta road test fee” is one agent's price, not the province's. Commercial road tests are different: they are delivered by government examiners at $217 for Class 1, $167 for Class 2 and $155 for Class 3.

A pass is not a licence yet

Alberta issues a road test permit that you buy before the test, and the guide is explicit that it is not a driver's licence. After you pass you have to take that permit to a registry agent to have your licence updated. Skip that step and you have passed a test without holding the licence it was for.

Official resources

Where to book, what to read, and where your province sits.

Before the road test

Pass the Alberta written test with questions from the official handbook

Practise free

Nearby road test guides

Neighbours first, then the provinces whose licensing path works the same way.

British ColumbiaTwo road tests12 months of waiting SaskatchewanOne road test9 months of waiting Northwest TerritoriesOne road test12 months of waiting

Spotted an error, or a rule that has changed? Tell us, with the official link, and we will correct the page.

Drive IQ Canada is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with Alberta Transportation, through registry agents. This page is for information only. Always confirm current requirements with the agency before you book.

Sources for this guide (3 official Alberta Transportation pages)

Read in August 2026. Official sources only; anything the authority does not publish is marked as not published rather than guessed. Pages we checked that said nothing are still cited.