Province hiring more examiners to reduce driving test wait times

An effort is underway to reduce driving test wait times in Nova Scotia.

The provincial government announced Friday it's working with Safety Services Nova Scotia to hire 15 new test examiners. The cost will be $2.3 million.

Five have already been hired by the province and the Safety Services Nova Scotia, a non-profit training centre, will be responsible for hiring the other 10. The new examiners will work at Access Nova Scotia centres in the Halifax area. 

"We're always looking at ways to streamline and improve the service delivery for Nova Scotians," said Service Nova Scotia Minister Colton LeBlanc.

There were 68,218 road tests scheduled in Nova Scotia last year, the province said. About 10 per cent of appointments are missed or not completed.

LeBlanc said there are currently about 10,000 driving tests outstanding in the province. The current wait time is roughly six weeks, he said, but the goal is to cut that time in half.

Driving test wait times got as high as 22 weeks last summer, according to the province.

The new examiners will allow for up to 900 driving tests a week, LeBlanc said.

Craig Whitehead, president and CEO of Safety Services Nova Scotia, said his examiners will be doing up to 12 tests a day once they are trained. All new drivers should be trained by the end of April, he said.

The number of motorists in the province over the last decade has increased by tens of thousands.

There were approximately 69,000 more Class 5 drivers' licences at the end of 2022 than at the same time in 2012, according to records obtained by CBC News.