Pass rates at Ontario DriveTest centres reveal 'illusion of consistency,' says road safety group

After two attempts at Hamilton's DriveTest centre, Sebastien Girouard was no closer to getting his G driver's licence in Ontario.

The 44-year-old said he struggled while driving on Hamilton's Red Hill Valley Parkway, a highway with an 80 km/h speed limit that is used by some 70,000 vehicles daily. He asked people online about what he should do.

"A lot of people told me [the town of] Simcoe would be easier," he said. "It's much better — no traffic, no cars."

Girouard went to the suggested centre in Norfolk County, an hour away from his home, and said that after driving on an 80 km/h country road for the highway portion of the test, he finally passed.

Despite that, Girouard said, he believes it's "not fair" how much easier Simcoe seemingly was than Hamilton.

The province's DriveTest examinations are supposed to be similar to each other and test the same driving skills no matter where you go. But the percentage of people who pass tests at each centre varies drastically, according to new data obtained by CBC Hamilton through a freedom of information request.

The data shows the pass and fail rates of all Ontario DriveTest centres from 2022 and the number of tests at each location.

Use the map below to find your local DriveTest centre and its pass rate. Hover or click on a site to see its pass rate. Use the buttons in the bottom right to zoom in or out.

Simcoe's DriveTest centre has a 73 per cent pass rate compared to Hamilton's 67 per cent, but there are more drastic differences across Ontario.

The site with the highest pass rate is in Bancroft, where 88 per cent of drivers succeed in their tests, while the location with the lowest pass rate is in Brampton at 59 per cent.

The average pass rate across Ontario is 69 per cent.

A driving instructor said the findings may be the product of bad teachers, while a road safety group said the results shatter the "illusion of consistency" among sites.

Both said the province needs to make changes to how it runs DriveTest.

"It should be a concern for everybody," said Brian Patterson, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Ontario Safety League.