British Columbia · Division 27

How to become a driving instructor in British Columbia

Teaching driving in BC needs its own licence from ICBC, separate from the one in your wallet. It takes six steps, and the expensive one comes after ICBC approves you.

The short version

BC licenses instructors under Division 27 of the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations. ICBC screens and approves you, then you train. What you end up holding is a driver training instructor's licence.

No person may act, or purport to act, as a driver training instructor unless the person is the holder of a valid and subsisting driver training instructor's licence.
Motor Vehicle Act Regulations, s. 27.04(2)

01Hold the right class of driver's licence for three years
02Clear ICBC's record, police and medical screening
03Get ICBC's approval letter, then two years to train
04Take an approved instructor training course
05Send your certificate and $30 to ICBC
06Teach under a licensed school, with your licence posted

The road to a licence

In ICBC's order. Finish each step before the next.

01Eligibility
Hold the right licence, long enough
At least 19, with a BC driver's licence in the class you will teach, held for three years. Class 1 also needs five years of full-privilege driving. Fewer than 10 penalty points in the past two years, and no conflict of interest with ICBC.
At least 19 · three years in class
02Application
Send ICBC the package
Ask ICBC for the package: the application, a medical form for a BC doctor or nurse practitioner, and a police information check letter. Mail or courier the originals together, not email. Review can take up to six weeks.
Originals by mail · up to 6 weeks
03Approval
Wait for the approval letter
If ICBC approves you, it mails you a letter. Then you can enrol at an ICBC-approved training facility. You have two years from the letter's date to finish the training.
Two years to finish training
04Training
Take the instructor training course
ICBC sets the Class 5/7 instructor course at 100 to 105 hours in a group, and puts the cost at $6,000 to $15,000. The regulation also says you must pass the course examinations ICBC requires.
100 to 105 hours · $6,000 to $15,000
05Licence
Certificate in, licence out
Mail ICBC your original completion certificate and a $30 cheque. ICBC will not issue the licence while you owe it money, and it can take up to four weeks. Form MV2412 asks for your name, driver's licence number and date of birth, not an instructor number.
$30 · up to 4 weeks
06Working
Teach under a licensed school
Your school posts your licence in a conspicuous place at each place of business, next to its own, and must give it back immediately when it stops employing you. It expires on the last day of the 24th month from issue.
Expires after 24 months

Step two, up close

ICBC checks all of these before it approves you for a training course.

Before you can enrol

conditions, all at once

At least 19
The minimum age to hold an instructor's licence.
Three years
In the class you intend to teach. Class 1 also needs five years of full-privilege driving.
Under 10 points
Fewer than 10 penalty points on your record across the previous two years.
Police check
A police information check through your local RCMP or police. ICBC estimates $75 to $150.
Medical
By a BC doctor or nurse practitioner, on form DTC109. ICBC estimates $75 to $250.
No conflict
No connection to ICBC that would create a conflict of interest.
Approval letter
ICBC's yes on the whole package, by mail.

Signing the application also means you agree to ICBC's code of conduct, form DTC410.

The instructor training course

The Class 5/7 course is taught in a group at an ICBC-authorized training facility.

ICBC puts the course at $6,000 to $15,000. The $30 licence and the checks are small next to it. Ask each provider how much in-car practice you get.

Other classes have their own minimums: 80 hours for motorcycle, 35 for air brakes, and 40 for Class 1 to 4, taken after the car course.

105hours

The top of ICBC's 100 to 105 hour minimum for a Class 5/7 course.

The licence itself

A driver training instructor's licence is its own document, not an endorsement on your driver's licence. It is issued, renewed and mailed on its own.

The school posts the licence of every instructor it employs or contracts in a conspicuous place. A duplicate, for an extra or replacement copy, is $15.

Form: MV2412, three pages
Original or renewal: $30
Each duplicate: $15
Term: Ends on the last day of the 24th month from issue
Application types: Original, renewal, reinstatement, duplicate
How it reaches you: Mailed, up to four weeks after the certificate and $30
Where it lives: Posted at each of the school's places of business

The classes, and how they connect

You need three years in a class to teach it, so the licence you hold now decides which students you can take later.

No licence yet

Where both learner routes start.

Cars Class 5 and 7

Class 7L
Learner. From 16. Knowledge test: 50 questions, 40 to pass.
First road test
After 12 months, or 9 if 25 or older. $50.
Class 7N
Novice. $75, valid five years. Independent driving, green N.
Class 5
By driving record assessment, not a road test. Hold it three years to teach.

Motorcycles Class 6 and 8

Class 8L
Learner. Skills test after 30 days at the earliest.
Class 8 road test
After 12 months holding the 8L, skills test passed.
Class 8N
Novice. 24 months before the last test.
Class 6
Full motorcycle licence, after the Class 6 road test.

Commercial Class 1 to 4

Full Class 5 or 6
The entry requirement. Plus a driver's medical examination.
MELT, for Class 1
Mandatory Entry-Level Training, at an ICBC-approved school.
Class 1 to 4
Heavy and commercial classes, after the class road test.

If you already hold a full Class 1 to 5, you start on a Class 6L instead. The skills test comes after 14 days, then the Class 6 road test.

Teaching Class 1 needs three years in Class 1 and five years of full-privilege driving.

Each line is a road test unless it says otherwise. The times are minimums.

What changed on 19 October 2026

Your students will ask you about it. Both rulebooks below come from ICBC and the Province.

Until 18 October 2026From 19 October 2026
Learner, Class 7LUntil 18 October 202612 months, flatFrom 19 October 202612 months. 9 months if 25 or older
First road testUntil 18 October 2026RequiredFrom 19 October 2026Required, unchanged
Novice, under 25Until 18 October 202624 months, or 18 with an approved GLP courseFrom 19 October 202624 months, or 18 with the course
Novice, 25 or olderUntil 18 October 202624 months. No age reduction existsFrom 19 October 202612 months
Leaving noviceUntil 18 October 2026A second road testFrom 19 October 2026A driving record assessment, no road test
Straight afterUntil 18 October 2026A full Class 5From 19 October 2026Class 5 with a 12-month zero alcohol and drug restriction

A second road test set for 19 October 2026 or later is cancelled, and ICBC emails the driver.
ICBC wrote to drivers already in the program to explain how they are affected.
The age of consent to apply for a licence dropped from 19 to 18.

Teaching the ICBC-approved course

It needs a designation on your instructor's licence, and it follows a set curriculum.

The designation

The qualifying course is the five-day GLP Instructor Course, which adds the GLT designation to your instructor's licence. ICBC intends to phase out the GLPIC, with no date and no named replacement.

The curriculum

The curriculum is Mapping a Safe Course. A Class 7 course runs at least 32 hours: 16 in the classroom, 12 practical and 4 discretionary, spent on talks with parents, evaluations or extra work where the student is weak.

The assessments

The school assesses each student twice on ICBC's Competency Checklist: a mid-term about halfway through, and a final. Mapping a Safe Course sets the pass standard.

The paper at the end

The school issues a Declaration of Completion and logs every one in a logbook. It keeps the course records for at least six years and must show them to ICBC's inspectors within 10 days of a request.

What it buys the student

Two grade 11 credits: Towards high school graduation.
Six months: Off the novice stage if under 25, with no violations or at-fault crashes in the first 18 months.

What the job is actually like

The regulation still applies once you are licensed.

The car

Meets the inspection standards in Division 25.
A dual brake pedal. A manual transmission needs a dual clutch as well.
A separate rear-view mirror for the instructor.
STUDENT DRIVER on the top or rear, in contrasting capitals at least 50 mm high.
Its registration and proof of insurance on file at the school.

The conduct rules

Treat everyone with respect. Threats, harassment and discrimination are breaches.
Teach safe driving, not the test route.
No practical training in a driver licensing office parking lot during office hours.
No recording a road test route or anyone taking a test.
Your advertising has to carry your name, or your school's.

The paperwork

Before training starts, the student gets it in writing: the school's name and address, the fees, extra charges, who else may be in the car, practice time, the per-lesson fee and the refund policy.
Then a record per lesson: the student's name, driver's licence number and licence class, the date, time and length, the subject, the type of training, your name and the fee charged.
Records are kept for six years.
The school keeps a file on you too: your name, your licence class, your driver's licence number, a copy of your instructor's licence, and the dates of any refresher training.

Booking road tests

Schools book student road tests through ICBC's online service, WebDEAS. They need the student's written consent first, on form DTC205.
A GLP-certified school can swap two GLP students' test times, or give one student's slot to another.
ICBC charges $25 if a road test is cancelled with less than 48 hours' notice.

The business side

Scheduling every day. Students have school, parents have work, and everyone wants the same after-school hour.
Chasing money. Lots of small amounts, some cash, some promised for next week.
Books and GST. Register once taxable sales pass $30,000 in a calendar quarter or over four in a row. A vehicle deduction needs a log kept as you go.
Parents who want proof of progress.

The record-keeping, field by field, is on its own page. The Division 27 checklist

If you want your own school

An instructor works under a school licence. Your own school is a second licence and a second application.

Office: A registered office in BC, where the school's records are kept.
Security: $2,000 per instructor for car and motorcycle courses, capped at $10,000.
Commercial: $3,500 per instructor teaching Class 1 to 4 or air brake courses.
Form: MV2441, eleven pages.
On the form: A DTC# in the running header of nearly every page. It is how ICBC keys your school's file.
Leaving the business: The school licence goes back to ICBC within 10 days of you stopping.

The DTC# belongs to the school, never to an instructor.

What we could not confirm

We could not answer these from the regulation or from ICBC's published material.

01Which providers deliver the course near you, and when their next intake starts.
02What the course examinations are. The regulation requires them. One source describes a knowledge test and a 45-minute drive before the course, and ICBC's page does not.
03How long the whole route takes end to end. It depends mostly on the course intake.
04Whether a number is printed on the instructor's licence.
05When the GLP Instructor Course is phased out, and what takes its place.
06What "DTC" stands for.

Where to check, before you spend anything

The sources for this page.

General information from BC's regulations and ICBC's published material, not legal or licensing advice or a statement of what ICBC will accept. Fees and forms change, so confirm with ICBC before you spend. copilotBC is not affiliated with or endorsed by ICBC.

After the licence

Then the record-keeping starts

Every lesson becomes a record the school keeps for six years. In copilotBC, students book against your availability, each lesson is recorded with its fee, and an ICBC-aligned training record prints on demand. Student records are stored in Canada, and a lesson can be recorded with no signal.