DriveTest Canada

Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC)

British Columbia driving test practice

Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) runs driver licensing in British Columbia. ICBC is the public auto insurer and it also runs driver licensing and testing in the province, so the same organization sets the test and insures the driver.
Car 126Motorcycle 60Truck 60Taxi and passenger transport 45
Start the ICBC knowledge test simulationRead the licence path

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A coastal highway curving along a forested mountainside above a pale inlet, with layered ridges fading into haze and low cloud sitting in the valley.

What Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) publishes

Questions on the real test
50
Pass mark
40 of 50 correct
Time limit
45 minutes
Fee
$15 per attempt, plus $17 for a first licence photo

For the ICBC knowledge test

Retake fee
$15 per attempt
Minimum age
Not stated in the record we hold
Hold on the 7L
12 months

Before the next stage opens

ICBC published graduated licensing and knowledge test informationverified 2026-08-27

Start here

126 questions written for British Columbia

Short runs that show the answer and the reason as soon as you choose. Nothing is timed here and nothing is held back, so this is the place to find out what you do not know yet.
A driver view of a wet coastal highway with a chevron post ahead on the outside of a curve and cedar forest on both sides, mist hanging in the trees.Start

Car: practice with answers

126 questions, 64 of them on signs

The same kind of set, with the answer and the reason shown as soon as you choose. No clock, and it never stops early.
A motorcycle leaning through a broad sweeping bend on a mountain road, rock rising on one side and a barrier guarding the drop on the other.Start

Motorcycle: practice with answers

60 questions, 20 of them on signs

The same kind of set, with the answer and the reason shown as soon as you choose. No clock, and it never stops early.
A tractor trailer climbing a long mountain grade on a divided highway, forested slope rising to the left and the gravel of a runaway lane visible ahead.Start

Truck: practice with answers

60 questions, 20 of them on signs

The same kind of set, with the answer and the reason shown as soon as you choose. No clock, and it never stops early.
A plain sedan waiting in a ferry terminal holding lane in early morning, marked lanes on wet asphalt with water and low hills beyond.Start

Taxi and passenger transport: practice with answers

45 questions, 15 of them on signs

The same kind of set, with the answer and the reason shown as soon as you choose. No clock, and it never stops early.

The full format

7 tests on this page

Length, pass mark, fee and retake cost as Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) publishes them. Where a number is not published, the card says so instead of carrying a guess.

Road signs and the subjects behind them

64 sign questions in our bank

Every one of the 41 signs on this site is our own drawing, made to the standard shapes and colours rather than traced from official artwork. Shape and colour first, meaning second, which is the order you read them in on the road.
A rural verge lined with three bare posts of different heights, every plate removed, a road running past them into open country.Start

British Columbia signs drill

64 sign questions

Sign questions on their own, drawn from the same bank as the full run.

How signs are scored on the ICBC knowledge test

What is scored apart, and what is mixed in

What the licensing body scores separately, what it counts with everything else, and how many of our questions are about signs.
Read

All 41 signs, grouped by category

Regulatory, warning, school, railway and temporary

What each sign means and what you actually do when you meet it.
View

One subject at a time

The number beside a subject is how many questions we have written on it for British Columbia. A subject appears once there are enough of them to be worth sitting down with.

A rural verge lined with three bare posts of different heights, every plate removed, a road running past them into open country.

Road signs

64 questions

Start
An uncontrolled rural crossroads with sight lines open across low fields, two vehicles approaching from different arms at a distance.

Right of way

6 questions

Start
A signalled intersection with a marked advance left turn lane and a painted crosswalk, seen from the waiting driver position with a green light ahead.

Intersections and turns

6 questions

Start
Three vehicles spaced along a two lane highway, seen from behind and above so the gap between each of them is plain.

Speed and following distance

6 questions

Start
A two lane rural highway on a long open straight with a broken centre line, one slow vehicle ahead and clear road beyond it.

Passing and lanes

5 questions

Start
A residential street seen along the curb line, cars parked parallel to it with a fire hydrant on the verge and a painted section of curb.

Parking and stopping

5 questions

Start
A wide street where a cyclist, a bus and a delivery van share the space at different distances under calm midday light.

Sharing the road

5 questions

Start
A dashboard and steering wheel at night with a phone lying face down in the centre console, the road ahead dark and empty through the windscreen.

Impaired and distracted driving

6 questions

Start
A blank card, a set of keys and a folded blank leaflet laid out evenly on a pale surface and shot square from above.

Licensing and the graduated system

6 questions

Start
A car stopped on a wide highway shoulder with the bonnet closed and a warning triangle set well back from it, nobody in frame.

Emergencies and breakdowns

6 questions

Start
A rural road at night lit only by headlights, snow drifting across the surface and the verge markers catching the light.

Weather and night driving

6 questions

Start
An open car glovebox with a plain unmarked document wallet inside it, shot from the passenger side in daylight through the window.

Documents, fines and demerit points

5 questions

Start

The licence journey in British Columbia

Each stage has to be held before the next one opens, so the order below is also the timetable. Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) sets every hold period on it.

British Columbia is the one province where the organization that tests you also insures you. ICBC is the public auto insurer and it runs driver licensing, so the same body writes the knowledge test, books the road test and prices the policy afterwards. The learner rules here are visible from outside the car, the geography puts mountain passes and long winters on the syllabus, and the knowledge test runs against a clock. These notes cover what is different about learning to drive in British Columbia.

  1. 7L, Class 7L learner licence

    The first stage. You pass the knowledge test and a vision check, then drive with a qualified supervisor beside you and an L sign on the vehicle.

    Held for 12 months

  2. 7N, Class 7N novice licence

    You pass your first road test and drive alone with an N sign displayed, under passenger and alcohol conditions that stay in place for the whole stage.

    Held for 24 months18 months with approved driver education

  3. 5, Full Class 5 licence

    The full licence, with the novice conditions gone and the sign off the car. How a driver reaches it is changing: a second road test has been the route, and from 19 October 2026 ICBC reads the driving record it already holds instead. The eligibility tool covers which case applies to you.

ICBC published graduated licensing and knowledge test informationverified 2026-08-27

The reading behind the British Columbia questions

11 lessons on the rules everyone is tested on, each one ending with the British Columbia note that changes the answer. The count beside a lesson is how many of our questions sit on it.

Right of way: who goes first, and why

6 questions, drill available

Read

Intersections and turns

6 questions, drill available

Read

Speed and following distance

6 questions, drill available

Read

Lanes, passing and merging

5 questions, drill available

Read

Parking and stopping

5 questions, drill available

Read
British Columbia note

Sharing the road

5 questions, drill available

Read
British Columbia note

Impaired and distracted driving

6 questions, drill available

Read
British Columbia note

Weather, winter and driving at night

6 questions, drill available

Read
British Columbia note

Emergencies and breakdowns

6 questions, drill available

Read
British Columbia note

Graduated licensing: how the system works

6 questions, drill available

Read

Documents, penalties and your driving record

5 questions, drill available

Read
The whole study path for British Columbia

Guides for British Columbia

Longer answers to the questions that come before and after a test, written the same way as the rest of the site.

The interior of a quiet public service office with empty chairs in rows and a plain counter, winter light falling in bands across a pale floor.Read

What is on the ICBC knowledge test

British Columbia

What the ICBC knowledge test asks, how it is scored against the clock, and what happens on the day and afterwards if it does not go well.
A four way intersection seen from above and to one side, lane markings and crosswalks clearly painted, three vehicles approaching from different arms in low winter sun.Read

The L and N stages, and what each one restricts

British Columbia

Which conditions attach to the L stage, which of them survive into the N stage, and what the visible sign on the car actually does to the traffic around you.

Class 5 without a second road test

Put your own dates against the published criteria

ICBC is replacing the second road test with a reading of the driving record it already holds. Each line names the official page it came from.
Open

Road test vehicle check

The checks that decide whether a road test starts

Plate and insurance, lights, signals, horn, brake, windshield, belts and doors.
Open

All the guides

15 written so far

Every longer answer on the site, grouped by the province it applies to.
View

Common questions

What people ask about testing in British Columbia, answered with the source underneath.

How many questions are on the ICBC knowledge test?

Fifty, and you get 45 minutes to work through them. The timer is generous for the number of questions, so most people run out of certainty long before they run out of time.

ICBC published graduated licensing and knowledge test informationverified 2026-08-27
How many mistakes are allowed on the BC knowledge test?

Ten. You need 40 correct out of 50 to pass, so the eleventh wrong answer ends the attempt as a fail.

ICBC published graduated licensing and knowledge test informationverified 2026-08-27
What does the ICBC knowledge test cost?

Fifteen dollars per attempt. On top of that you pay $17 for your first licence photo, and every retake costs the same $15 as the first sitting.

ICBC published graduated licensing and knowledge test informationverified 2026-08-27
How soon can I retake the knowledge test if I fail?

After 7 days. ICBC holds you to that gap between attempts, so the same afternoon or the next morning is not an option.

ICBC published graduated licensing and knowledge test informationverified 2026-08-27
Can I take the knowledge test in another language?

Yes. ICBC offers the test in 12 languages with audio, which means you can listen to the questions rather than read them.

ICBC published graduated licensing and knowledge test informationverified 2026-08-27
How long do the L and N stages last?

You hold the L for 12 months before your first road test. The N stage runs 24 months, or 18 months if you complete an approved driver education course.

ICBC published graduated licensing and knowledge test informationverified 2026-08-27
What is the road test pass rate in British Columbia?

Provincially it runs at roughly 50 to 58 percent, so close to half of all road test attempts end in a fail. Individual offices sit well above and well below that band.

ICBC published road test statisticsverified 2026-08-27

Sources for this page

Every number above comes from one of these records. The date is when we last checked the figure against it.