500K Alberta drivers automatically free of GDL program after UCP ends 'licensing scheme'

Roughly 500,000 Albertans holding a graduated drivers license (GDL) and a clean record will soon have a full permit without having to pay the $154 fee and take another test.

Roughly 500,000 Albertans holding a graduated drivers license (GDL) and a clean record will soon have a full permit without having to pay the $154 fee and take another test.

Notification letters will soon be in the mail, the United Conservative Party government announced Monday, following up on a promise from last fall.

“GDL was an expensive, duplicative licensing scheme that discriminated against good young drivers," Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen said in a news release.

"Alberta’s government will continue to make common-sense rules and make life more affordable for Albertans.”

The government first announced the change in September as a way of cutting "red tape," however some expressed safety concerns about the move.

To automatically graduate, GDL licensees must have completed their two-year driving period with no suspensions or demerits in the final year.

GDL drivers who did receive tickets, demerits or suspensions in the final year will have their probationary period extended by a year.