Ontario licensing

The G1/M1 knowledge test

This page covers Ontario only. Québec licenses drivers under its own Code de la sécurité routière through the SAAQ, a separate regime this section does not cover — see the fines and demerit-point pages for the material that does treat both provinces. The knowledge test is the first step onto the G1 (car) or M1 (motorcycle) licence. O. Reg. 340/94 authorizes the Ministry to hold it and requires it before either licence is issued — but the regulation itself sets no question count, no time limit and no pass mark, and this page says so plainly rather than repeating a number the law does not contain.

Draft for review. Every figure on this page is transcribed from the instrument cited beside it; the reviewer of record has not signed the values off. Check the cited provision before relying on an amount.

Requirements

What the knowledge test covers

Every applicant for a Class G1 or Class M1 licence must pass a knowledge test before the licence is issued. The test is written, and O. Reg. 340/94 authorizes the Ministry to require it — but the regulation stops there.

ONTARIOFINDING

No question count, time limit or pass mark is set in the regulation

O. Reg. 340/94 authorizes only “an examination of the person’s knowledge of the Act and the regulations under it,” with no number attached anywhere in either the Highway Traffic Act or the regulation. DriveTest.ca, the Ministry’s testing contractor, is the only body that could plausibly publish the operative figures, and its public pages do not state one. The “40 questions, 16 per section, 80% to pass” figure repeated across driving-school marketing pages is not stated by the Ministry or by DriveTest.ca, and it is not used anywhere on this site.

SourceO. Reg. 340/94 (Drivers' Licences), s. 15(1)(a) · Current as of 18 August 2026

SourceHighway Traffic Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 32(5) · Current as of 18 August 2026

After the test

Retakes and how long a pass lasts

ONTARIOFINDING

No waiting period or attempt cap is stated

Neither instrument sets a minimum wait before a retake or a maximum number of attempts — the same silence that leaves the question count and pass mark unstated.

SourceO. Reg. 340/94 (Drivers' Licences), s. 15(1)(a) · Current as of 18 August 2026

SourceHighway Traffic Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 32(5) · Current as of 18 August 2026

A passed knowledge test carries no separate certificate or shelf life of its own. Passing it is the act of holding a currently valid Class G1 or M1 licence, and that licence is what expires — 5 years for G1, 90 days for M1 (see licence classes and fees).

Before the test

No mandatory instruction is required

ONTARIOFINDING

No minimum theory instruction is prescribed

A Ministry-approved driver education course exists for the car track, and a Ministry-approved motorcycle training course for the motorcycle track. Both are optional: completing one only shortens a later novice hold period (see licence classes and fees). Neither is a precondition of sitting the knowledge test itself.

SourceO. Reg. 340/94 (Drivers' Licences), s. 28(5) · Current as of 18 August 2026

SourceO. Reg. 340/94 (Drivers' Licences), s. 15(1)(a) · Current as of 18 August 2026

Next step

Got a ticket instead of a licensing question?

Fines, demerit points and what a ticket actually costs in Ontario and Québec live on the rest of this site.

See speeding fines