The Québec road test

Quebec's only passenger road test, taken after a mandatory driving course.

First: do you need this test?

Moving to Quebec 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

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 must hold a learner's licence for at least 12 months before the road test.
No practice hours to log. The wait is the requirement, not a number of hours behind the wheel.

02What this test covers

Putting into practice your knowledge of the Highway Safety Code
Road signs and traffic signals
The behaviour to adopt on the road
Whether you have the skills to drive safely, cooperatively and responsibly

03What the examiner marks

This follows the four areas of the SAAQ road test checklist, the sheet the examiner uses to note what you do well and what to work on. SAAQ publishes what is assessed but not a pass mark, so this is a study guide, not a scoresheet.

Vehicle handling

Your driving position: headrest, seat, seat belt and hands on the wheel.
Control of the vehicle, and smooth speed control as you speed up and slow down.
Eco-driving: smooth inputs rather than harsh acceleration or braking.

Following the Highway Safety Code

Mandatory stops, made completely and in the right place.
Speed limits, kept to the road and the conditions.
Right of way, yielded correctly.
Traffic rules: the right lane, and obeying signs, signals and pavement markings.

Driving independently

Analyzing the situation: reading what is happening around you.
Making the right decision for what you see.
Acting on it, with the manoeuvre at the right moment.

Sharing the road

Visual scanning: left, right and left again.
Shoulder checks for blind spots when turning and changing lanes.
Turn signals, used and cancelled at the right time.
Your position in the lane, and safety margins moving and stopped.
Adapting to each situation, with confidence and courtesy, and spotting risk zones.

The examiner works through the four areas as you drive, marking what needs improving. You pass by driving safely, lawfully and on your own across all of them. SAAQ does not publish a points threshold, so there is no number to aim at, only steady, independent driving.

04On the day

What to bring to the SAAQ road test

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

Documents and items

Tap each item to check it off. Your ticks stay on this device.

Note: SAAQ does not publish official figures for the fee, the length, the marking scheme or automatic fail conditions. The SAAQ publishes what the examiner checks but no marking scheme or pass threshold.

05The things that catch people out

You cannot book the test without finishing the course

Quebec is the strictest in Canada on this. The road test is not open to you until you have passed every phase of the mandatory driving course and hold a completed attestation from a school recognised by the Association québécoise des transports. A course is not a way to shorten the wait here; it is the only route to the test at all.

Fail and you wait a month

The SAAQ sets a 28-day wait before you may retake the road test, which is the longest published retake wait we found in Canada. Ontario is generally 10 days, Manitoba 14 and Saskatchewan two weeks.

Official resources

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

Before the road test

Pass the Québec 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.

OntarioTwo road tests12 months of waiting New BrunswickOne road test12 months of waiting Newfoundland and LabradorOne 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 Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ). This page is for information only. Always confirm current requirements with the agency before you book.

Sources for this guide (2 official SAAQ 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.