Vancouver man frustrated California won't honour BC driver's licence

Alexander Lukatskiy/Shutterstock | Courtesy of ICBC

A Vancouver man moving to California was shocked to learn BC will exchange a California driver’s licence for a local one, but the US state won’t do the same.

Ryan Gravel will have to start from scratch when he arrives in California with his family later this year. He’ll feel like a teenager again doing a knowledge test and a road test.

That’s despite the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia’s reciprocal licence exchange agreements with all US states, where people moving to BC can swap their American licence for a BC one without doing any tests.

“Well, that’s not reciprocal then. That’s not tit for tat. One side’s getting everything and one side’s losing everything,” Gravel said. “It’s just very frustrating.”

Family moving to California to help daughter

Gravel and his partner are moving to California to seek better school accommodations for his daughter who has a disability. They’ve already done the legwork to find her a school with appropriate support, but not being able to exchange his licence was an unexpected roadblock. Working in the film and television industry, he’ll definitely need it.

“It makes it a whole lot more painful and more time-consuming,” he said.

Even though ICBC will swap a licence based on its reciprocal agreements, Gravel has learned that doesn’t mean the other jurisdiction will give the same courtesy.

California “does not have foreign reciprocity agreements in place”

The Office of Public Affairs for the California Department of Motor Vehicles told Daily Hive that state law does not allow it to exchange a driver’s licence from somewhere else for a California one.

Tourists can still use their Canadian licence, but those becoming California residents must apply for a local one within 10 days.

All California driver’s licence applicants must provide proof of identity, their full name and social security number, and residency documents to begin the process. From there, they must do a knowledge test, an eye exam, and a driving assessment.

“While other countries may accept California driver licences to exchange for their driving credentials, California does not have foreign reciprocity agreements in place,” the DMV told Gravel in an email. “Existing law in California limits the reciprocal recognition of [driver’s licences] to other states, territories, or possessions of the United States.”

ICBC declined to comment for this article, instead referring us to the DMV’s rules.

When Gravel wrote to his MLA with his concerns, he heard back that the issue would be raised with the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, which oversees ICBC. Daily Hive has reached out to the Ministry for comment.

“They come from California up here and just give ICBC their driver’s licence and just get an automatic swap,” Gravel said. “ICBC says they meet our definition of a Class 5 licence. But we, as in British Columbians or Canadians, do not meet their criteria.”

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