G1 Test Booking and Fees in Ontario
You cannot book it. Here is how walk-in works, what the package fee actually covers, and where the money quietly leaks.
Greenhorn Driving School
Published August 26, 2026 · 10 min read
Two things surprise people about the money side of the G1. The first is that you cannot book the knowledge test at all, no matter how much you would like to. The second is that the fee you pay on day one is not really for the G1 at all: most of it is prepayment for a road test you will not sit for at least eight months.
Everything below comes from what DriveTest and the Ministry of Transportation currently publish. Where two official pages disagree with each other, and on the handbook price they do, we say so.
Can You Book a G1 Test?
No, and it is worth understanding why, because people waste real time looking for a booking page that does not exist. DriveTest runs an online booking system, but it is for road tests. Knowledge tests are walk-in, first come first served, at all 92 centres in the province. Our guide to every DriveTest centre shows which location is closest to you and what each one offers.
There are exactly two exceptions. A verbal knowledge test, or a test with an interpreter, is appointment only. And the ServiceOntario location at Bay and College in downtown Toronto administers knowledge tests by appointment, which is the closest thing to a bookable G1 test in Ontario and is almost unknown.
Since you cannot book, timing is the only lever you have. DriveTest recommends arriving at least one hour before the office closes, and warns that Saturdays and school holidays are the busiest times. It publishes live wait times for every centre, updated through the day, which is the single most useful page in this whole process. Neighbouring centres routinely differ by an hour.
The full walkthrough of the visit itself is in our guide to what to expect at your G1 test.
The Current Fees
These are DriveTest’s published driver examination fees. They are set by the Government of Ontario and they include all applicable taxes, so the number on the page is the number you pay.
| What you are paying for | Fee |
|---|---|
| Class G1 licence packageKnowledge test, a Class G2 road test, and a five-year licence. Payable when you apply. | $159.75 |
| Knowledge test, per extra attemptWhat a retry costs after a failed section. | $16.00 |
| Class G2 road testAlready inside the package above. This is the price if you buy it separately. | $53.75 |
| Class G road testYour final test. Never included in the G1 package. | $91.25 |
| Five-year licenceThe licence itself, also inside the package. | $90.00 |
| Official MTO Driver’s HandbookCash only at a DriveTest centre. The same book is free to read online. | $18.00 |
These are not new 2026 prices
DriveTest’s fee page carries an effective date of July 12, 2019. These are the current published amounts, unchanged for years, not a recent increase. Anyone advertising a different “2026 fee schedule” is quoting something that does not exist. Check DriveTest’s fees page before you go.
What $159.75 Actually Buys
The Class G1 licence package is three things bundled together and paid for at application:
- The knowledge test you are about to sit
- One Class G2 road test, taken at least eight or twelve months from now
- A five-year licence
Do the arithmetic and something becomes clear. The knowledge test is $16, the G2 road test is $53.75, and the five-year licence is $90. Those add to exactly $159.75. The package is not a discount. It is prepayment, at full price, for services you will use over the next few years.
Two things that are not in it. The Class G road test, your final one, is a separate $91.25 whenever you get there. And a second attempt at anything is extra: the package covers one knowledge test and one G2 road test, not unlimited tries at either.
None of this is a scandal, but it changes how you should think about the $16 retake fee. It is not a small add-on to a big fee you already paid. It is the only part of the whole bill that is genuinely within your control.
The Retake Economics
A failed knowledge test costs $16 and a second trip to the centre. There is no mandatory waiting period, and DriveTest says applicants can take the test as many times as they need to pass.
The rule that saves money is the one-year clock. Your results stay valid for a year, and if you come back inside that year you only redo the sections that did not meet the standard. Fail the rules of the road section, return the following week, and you sit that section alone for $16. Wait beyond a year and you are starting the whole test again.
Two more things worth knowing. Getting caught cheating means an unsuccessful mark, the loss of the fee you already paid, and a wait until the following day before you can retry. And the real cost of failing is rarely the $16. It is the second trip, the second queue, and often a second day off school or work.
The Cheapest Way to Avoid the $16
Pass the first time. Our G1 practice test is free, has no ads, and needs no account: 200 questions on signs and rules of the road, a full 40-question mock test in the real format, an explanation on every answer, and unlimited retakes.
How You Pay
You pay at the counter when you apply. There is no way to prepay a knowledge test online, because there is no appointment to attach the payment to.
Accepted at a DriveTest centre
- Cash, in Canadian dollars only
- Credit card, VISA or MasterCard
- Debit card
- Certified business or personal cheque
- Bank draft or money order, payable to Serco Canada Inc.
- Traveller’s cheque, Canadian or American
Easy to get caught by
- American Express is not on the accepted list
- Cash has to be Canadian dollars
- An uncertified personal cheque will not do
- The handbook, if you buy it there, is cash only
Credit card prepayment does exist, but only for road tests booked in advance, and only VISA or MasterCard. Refunds, when they apply, cannot be processed online: they are issued by cheque in the mail and can take up to 30 business days.
The Two Clocks
This is the part that catches people who take a long break between licences, and it catches them because there are two separate expiry rules that do not match.
Your prepaid fees
Prepaid test fees are valid for six years from the date you paid them, and a refund can only be requested inside that same six years.
Graduated licensing itself
You have five years to finish the whole process. If you do not hold a full G licence by then, you start over from the beginning, knowledge test included.
So the shorter clock is the one that actually ends your progress, and your money outlasts your licence by a year. There is also a third, quieter deadline: a passed road test has to be applied to your licence within 12 months, or the result stops counting and you pay to take it again.
Where the Money Actually Leaks
Almost nobody overpays on the G1 itself. The losses happen later, and they are nearly all avoidable.
- Missing a road test appointment. Arrive late, do not show, or cancel inside 48 hours and you lose the prepaid road test fee outright. Because the knowledge test cannot be booked, it has no equivalent penalty.
- Turning up with the wrong car. If your vehicle does not meet requirements the test is marked out of order and it costs you half the road test fee.
- Serial rescheduling. Cancel more than three road tests in six months and you lose access to the automated booking system.
- Letting a passed result sit. Apply a road test result to your licence within 12 months or repeat and pay for the test again.
- Buying the handbook at the counter. It is $18 in cash at a DriveTest centre. The same book is free to read on ontario.ca. Worth noting that the two official sources disagree on the price, since Ontario.ca lists it at $14.95 plus taxes, so read it online and skip the question.
- Failing sections one at a time. Two separate $16 retries plus two trips beat one visit where you were ready for both sections.
Booking the Road Test Later
Worth knowing now, because it is the opposite of the G1 in almost every way. The G2 road test is appointment only, bookable through DriveTest’s online booking system or by phone at 1-888-570-6110. The online system runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
It is already paid for inside your G1 package, you can reschedule or cancel up to 48 hours ahead without losing the fee, and DriveTest asks you to arrive at least 30 minutes early. Novice drivers cannot book a road test dated after their licence expires, which is another reason the five-year clock matters.
If you complete an MTO-approved Beginner Driver Education course, you can take that G2 road test after eight months instead of twelve, and most insurers apply a discount as well. That is the one decision in this whole process that changes the timeline rather than just the paperwork.
Other Fees You Will Meet
Beyond the test itself, these are the amounts Ontario publishes for the things new drivers most often run into:
- Renewing a licence: $90 for five years
- Replacing a lost or stolen licence: $35.75
- Reinstating a suspended licence: $281
- Exchanging a licence from a reciprocal jurisdiction: $90
That $281 reinstatement fee is the one to keep in mind, because novice drivers reach it faster than anyone expects. A single conviction that carries demerit points triggers an automatic suspension for a G1 or G2 driver, regardless of the points total. The mechanics are in our guide to demerit points in Ontario.
The rest of the G1 series
Common Questions About G1 Booking and Fees
No. Knowledge tests at DriveTest centres are walk-in and first come, first served, and there is no online or phone booking system for them. The exceptions are a verbal test or a test with an interpreter, which are appointment only, and the ServiceOntario location at Bay and College in Toronto, which takes knowledge tests by appointment.
The Class G1 licence package is $159.75, payable when you apply. That covers the knowledge test, a Class G2 road test, and a five-year licence. All DriveTest fees are set by the Government of Ontario and include applicable taxes, so nothing is added at the counter.
Each extra attempt at the knowledge test is $16.00. If you retry within one year of your original attempt, you only have to redo the sections that did not meet the standard, and it is still $16.
No. Online payment by credit card exists only for road test appointments, which you book in advance. Because the knowledge test is walk-in, there is nothing to prepay, so you pay at the counter when you apply.
There are two separate clocks. Prepaid test fees are valid for six years from the date you paid, and refunds can only be requested within that window. Separately, you have five years to complete graduated licensing, so if you do not hold a full G licence within five years you start the process again.
