Survey: Canada's the fifth-easiest country in the world to get a driver's licence

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Canada is the fifth-easiest country in the world to get your driver’s licence, behind Mexico, Qatar, Latvia and the United States, while it’s toughest and priciest in Croatia.

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That’s according to a survey released by Zutobi , a U.K.-based online driver’s education course. The company looked at how each country assesses its novice drivers, including age, test difficulty, and cost.

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Survey: Canada's the fifth-easiest country in the world to get a driver's licence Back to video

According to the company, Mexico is the world’s easiest, since many areas of the country only require you to take a written test, and you don’t have to actually prove you can drive. That’s apparently a step up from 2018 and earlier, when you didn’t have to take any test.

Qatar, Latvia, the U.S., and Canada fall into that lineup, in that order, because the cost of getting a licence increases in each one. However, Zutobi said that in the top-five easiest-to-pass countries, you don’t need to take any professional lessons before going for your test.

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The toughest on Zutobi’s list is Croatia, where you need an average of about 85 hours of driving lessons before you can take your test, and spend the average equivalent of $1,625 Canadian dollars for your tests and licence. Brazil, second on the list, requires 60 hours of lessons. The next three — Hungary, Bahrain, and Montenegro — also require pricey lessons and tests.

Many countries require drivers to be at least 18 years old, but several allow young teenagers to get a learner’s permit — including in Canada. In Alberta, a learner’s licence comes with several restrictions, but you only have to be 14 to qualify for one. In Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, that permit starts at 15 years of age.

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If you don’t have a lot of cash, Zutobi claims the cheapest country to get a licence is Pakistan, where it’ll cost you the equivalent of $1.75 in Canadian coins. India and Vietnam are only slightly more expensive.

And the strangest tests? In Andorra, a tiny country between France and Spain, a licence is not only very expensive, but there’s apparently only one test centre, and it operates one day a week. Zutobi said that India only requires a learner to prove he or she can drive forward, turn left, and then stop to obtain a licence. Burundi and Egypt apparently have very short and simple driving tests as well.

Other countries among Zutobi’s top-twenty easiest licences to pass include France, Ireland, Italy, China, Russia, and Slovakia. Some on the “hardest” list include Israel, Austria, New Zealand, Denmark, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Finland, and Bulgaria.