Moving to New Brunswick: Exchange Your Out-of-Province Licence

When you must exchange your licence

If you hold a licence from another place and take up residence in New Brunswick, you must get a New Brunswick driver's licence as soon as you take up residence.
The Motor Vehicle Act lets a non-resident who is 16 or older drive here on a valid home licence. That rule does not cover a person who lives or does business in New Brunswick for more than six consecutive months in a year.
Students from another province or the U.S. have one exception. They do not need to exchange while they are in school, but they must exchange as soon as they take up permanent residence or get a job.

What you need for a class-for-class exchange

• A completed Application for Driver's Licence.
• Age 16 or older. Applicants under 18 need parental consent (a free practice question covers written consent).
• Your old licence. You surrender it at the exchange.
• An old licence that does not expire within the next six months.
• Proof of identity and proof of residency (see the next section).
• The application fee, unless your licence is from Prince Edward Island or Nova Scotia. Ask Service New Brunswick to confirm the fee for your exchange. A New Brunswick licence of any class from 1 to 9 is valid for four years and costs $100 (Canadian dollars, fees as of August 1, 2026).

Documents to bring

Bring at least one identification document, at least two proof-of-residency documents and your old licence. Each must be an original or a copy certified by the issuing agency, with your full legal name and date of birth. Bring proof of any name change.
A non-enhanced out-of-province driver's licence or photo ID does not count as identification. A birth certificate from a Canadian province or territory does.
Residency documents must be the most recent issued and show the address for your New Brunswick licence. Two documents from the same agency, or two months of the same type of bill, are not accepted. Bundled services count as one document.

1. 1
   Check your old licence

   Make sure it does not expire within the next six months. If you are under 18, get the parental consent.

2. 2
   Gather your documents

   Collect your identification, two residency documents with your New Brunswick address and your old licence.

3. 3
   Visit a Service New Brunswick centre

   Apply in person at a Service New Brunswick (SNB) centre. A new photo is taken there.

4. 4
   Hand in your old licence and pay the fee

   Complete the application and surrender your old licence. Pay the application fee unless your licence is from Prince Edward Island or Nova Scotia.

5. 5
   Drive on your temporary document

   You leave with a 30-day temporary document. Carry it when you drive until your new card arrives by mail.

If you hold a learner's or novice licence from another province

A Class 7 licence exchanges class for class. In New Brunswick the learner stages are Class 7 Level 1 and Level 2; the Motor Vehicle Act calls them the stage one and stage two learner's licence.
Drivers who are 16 or older and move from another province get credit for their time in a graduated program there. The Registrar may count time you were licensed in another province, territory or country in the last two years, when the Registrar finds the experience equivalent and there is no gap. The Registrar decides how much credit you get. After you register in New Brunswick, you follow the New Brunswick program.

New Brunswick graduated licence rules after the exchange

• At least 24 months in the graduated program before a full Class 5 licence.
• Level 1: wait 12 months before the road test, or eight months if you pass a driver training course (a free practice question covers this).
• Level 1: no driving between midnight and 5 a.m.
• Level 2: up to three passengers. The Level 2 night driving rules and exemption explain the rest.
• Both levels: zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol.
• Class 5: no road test, but you must apply for it.

Moving to New Brunswick from outside Canada and the U.S.

Bring your original foreign licence. If it is not in English or French, add an official translation from a translation agency or an international driver's licence. Ukraine is on that list of 23 countries, but Ukrainian drivers still take a vision test.
A foreign national with a work or study permit valid for more than six months may drive on a valid home-country licence for up to six months from the day they land in Canada. The foreign licence exchange guide gives the full country list and the test steps.

Licence exchange in New Brunswick: common questions