Where you take your road test may have an impact on how you do, and going to the Driver Examination Centre in Kitchener could improve your odds.
Statistics show about half of drivers fail their road test at locations in the GTA, but in Kitchener less than one third walk out with a failing grade.
The centre in Kitchener is busy, and while driving instructors won't readily admit why, a number of cars in the centre's parking lot on Tuesday were from out of town.
However, discrepancies in pass-fail rates likely have nothing to do with the way the testing is done at the centre itself.
Faith Morphy is with Young Drivers of Canada. She says "We see Brampton being one of the higher fail rates for tests. They have large traffic volumes, they have a lot of new Canadians there as well who might not be quite as used to the road system as what we would have here maybe in Kitchener-Waterloo."
Sarita Dhillon is an instructor with Ultimate Driving who has worked in both Waterloo Region and the GTA.
She says it "could be traffic. There's more traffic in Brampton and Mississauga…than in Cambridge and Waterloo."
The advice instructors have for new drivers is to be prepared regardless of where you choose to take the test.
Morphy says "Very often people think, well, I'll just go give it a try, and they're not well prepared, and so that's very important."
While smaller, more remote areas seem to have higher pass rates, driving instructors say the testers who work for Serco, the company that operates Ontario's 55 exam centres, all go by the book.
"Serco has been very careful at making sure that they monitor not only just the whole city and what's happening at that examination centre, but individual examiners," Morphy says.
As an added control, the Ministry of Transportation also monitors the examiners.
So while some people may think it's wise to shop around for a road test location, driving instructors, and the examiners conducting the tests, say it comes down to preparation.
Dhillon says, "For me as long as you know the rules and regulations and you follow them, then I think there is no point that you fail the test because of the centre."
