How to Start Getting Your Driver's Licence in Saskatchewan

The short answer

Saskatchewan runs a three-stage graduated licensing program through Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI): Learner, Novice 1, and Novice 2, ending in an experienced Class 5 driver's licence. The whole path takes at least 27 months — 9 months as a Class 7 learner, 6 months as a Class 5 Novice 1 driver, and 12 months as a Class 5 Novice 2 driver. You start at a motor licence issuer, not an SGI office, and every stage carries restrictions that lift as you progress. This guide covers the Saskatchewan-only path for new drivers, plus the out-of-province exchange route for new residents. It does not re-cover the foreign-licence exchange process in full — our guide to how to start exchanging your foreign driver's licence in Canada covers that process across the provinces.

Step 1: Get a Class 7 learner's licence

You must be 16 years of age to start, or 15 years of age if you are in a high school driver education program, according to Saskatchewan Government Insurance, Graduated Driver Licensing program. Pass your learner's licence (Class 7) written exams and purchase your driver's licence at a motor licence issuer. You will be issued a temporary paper licence until a new driver's licence card is sent in the mail, on the same page. That card is different from an SGI photo identification card, and it is the card you need to drive, on the same page.

The first time you apply for a Saskatchewan driver's licence, you will be asked to provide documents to prove your identity, proof of residency, and entitlement to be in Canada, according to Saskatchewan Government Insurance, Saskatchewan driver's licence program. Each document must be from an authority such as a federal or provincial government or a federal agency, and the documents must be originals, not photocopies, on the same page.

Step 2: Practise for 9 months and complete driver education

Practise driving for nine months with a supervising driver, according to Saskatchewan Government Insurance, Graduated Driver Licensing program. During the learner stage you must also complete the required mandatory driver training education with an SGI-certified instructor, on the same page. The training is either high school training — 30 hours in class and 6 hours in car — or training from an SGI-certified driver instructor — 6 hours in class and 6 hours in car, on the same page.

The learner restrictions, from the same SGI page, are:

• You must have a supervising driver in the front passenger seat at all hours, and the supervising driver must be an experienced, licensed driver.
• Between midnight and 5 a.m., your passengers must be immediate family members.
• The number of passengers is limited to the number of seat belts.
• You cannot use any type of cellphone, hand-held or hands-free, while driving.
• You cannot operate a right-hand drive vehicle.
• You cannot be a supervising driver.
• You cannot obtain a commercial driver's licence or school bus endorsement.

Interruptions such as licence suspensions, refusal to issue, or non-renewal extend the nine months for any period you did not hold a valid licence, on the same page.

Step 3: Pass the road test for Class 5 Novice 1

After the learner stage, pass a road test, then make sure you update your Class 7 driver's licence to a Class 5 at a motor licence issuer, according to Saskatchewan Government Insurance, Graduated Driver Licensing program. You must be 16 years of age and have passed the Class 5 road test to enter this stage, on the same page.

Practise driving as a Class 5 Novice 1 driver for six months, on the same page. The Novice 1 passenger rule is tighter than the learner rule in one way: only one passenger who is not an immediate family member is allowed, and other passengers must be immediate family members, limited to the number of seat belts, on the same page. The cellphone ban, the right-hand drive ban, and the ban on being a supervising driver still apply, on the same page. Interruptions extend the six months the same way they extend the learner stage, on the same page.

Step 4: Drive as a Class 5 Novice 2 driver for 12 incident-free months

Drive as a Class 5 Novice 2 driver for 12 months with no incidents — at-fault collision, traffic conviction, and suspension free, according to Saskatchewan Government Insurance, Graduated Driver Licensing program. If an incident happens, the Novice 2 driver must restart the 12-month incident-free period from the loss date or conviction date, on the same page. Interruptions such as licence suspensions, refusal to issue, or non-renewal extend the 12 months for any period the driver did not hold a valid licence, on the same page.

Drivers in any stage who are found at fault for a collision, or who receive convictions or suspensions, are placed in the Graduated Driver Licensing Improvement program, on the same page. The steps escalate: a warning letter if the first traffic incident has an assigned rating of two points or fewer, a Traffic Safety Education session if the first incident is rated three to six points, and for each incident after that a Defensive Driving course, Driver Improvement training, and administrative suspensions of 30 days, then 90 days, then 180 days, followed by an interview and further action, on the same page. Drivers can appeal all sanctions except the warning letter, the Traffic Safety Education session, the interview request, and manual review to the Highway Traffic Board, on the same page.

Step 5: Graduate to an experienced Class 5 licence

Once you complete 12 incident-free months as a Novice 2 driver, you graduate to an experienced Class 5 driver's licence, according to Saskatchewan Government Insurance, Graduated Driver Licensing program. The Learner, Novice 1, or Novice 2 driving status is indicated on the driver's licence at each stage, and the novice restrictions lift at graduation, on the same page.

New residents: exchanging an out-of-province licence

If you move to Saskatchewan, you may drive with your valid out-of-province driver's licence for 90 days after moving, according to Saskatchewan Government Insurance, Saskatchewan driver's licence program. Once a Saskatchewan driver's licence of any class is validated, the driver's licence from your home jurisdiction becomes invalid, on the same page.

Whether you are tested depends on where your licence is from, on the same SGI page:

• Another Canadian province or territory. You must have a valid driver's licence from that jurisdiction to exchange it without being tested. An expired driver's licence not older than five years from that jurisdiction is also acceptable.
• A honoured country. Licences may be honoured from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia (Czech Republic), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They may be exchanged for a Saskatchewan Class 5 driver's licence and motorcycle endorsement, where applicable. A valid licence and a copy of your driving record from that jurisdiction must be provided, with a translation document acceptable to SGI, such as an International Driving Permit, if the licence is not in English or French. Saskatchewan may also accept a driver's licence from a country not on the list — check with any Saskatchewan motor licence issuer or driver examination office.
• A place Saskatchewan does not honour. You are required to complete a driver's examination — written, vision, and road tests — and you enter the graduated licensing program as a new driver.

The nine-month learning period and driver training requirement may be waived if you can prove past driving experience by providing a valid driver's licence written in English or French, or a valid licence in another language accompanied by a translation document acceptable to SGI, on the same page. Visitors and full-time students at approved educational institutions do not have to exchange their licence while they are in Saskatchewan to study, according to Saskatchewan Government Insurance, Driver's licence — but if you become a Saskatchewan resident, the 90-day rule applies, on the same page.

Figures the opened SGI pages do not state

• Test and licence fees. The opened SGI pages state the stages, ages, hold periods, training hours, and restrictions, but they state no fee for the written exams, the road test, or the licence card. This guide states no fee for any of those steps. Confirm the current fees with a motor licence issuer before you book.
• How long the licence card takes to arrive. The SGI page states only that a temporary paper licence is issued until the card is sent in the mail. No delivery time is stated on an opened official page, so none is printed here.
• A minimum experience period for a test-free exchange. The opened SGI pages state which licences can be exchanged without testing and what documents are required, but they state no minimum number of years of driving experience for a test-free exchange. This guide states no such figure — confirm your own case with a motor licence issuer.
• The supervising driver's minimum experience. The opened SGI pages state only that the supervising driver must be an experienced, licensed driver. No minimum number of years is stated, so none is printed here.

Related guides:

• How to Start Getting Your Driver's Licence in Ontario — G1, G2, and Full G — Ontario's G1, G2, and full G graduated system.
• How to Start Getting Your Driver's Licence in Manitoba — Manitoba's graduated licensing path through Manitoba Public Insurance.
• How to Start Getting Your Driver's Licence in British Columbia — British Columbia's learner-to-Class 5 path through ICBC.
• How to Start Exchanging Your Foreign Driver's Licence in Canada — how a licence from outside Canada is exchanged, including Saskatchewan's rules for experienced drivers.

Sources

• Saskatchewan Government Insurance, Graduated Driver Licensing program — the three stages, the 9-month learner, 6-month Novice 1, and 12-month Novice 2 periods, the ages, the written exams and road test, the mandatory driver education hours, the stage restrictions, the incident-free rule and restart, and the Graduated Driver Licensing Improvement program.
• Saskatchewan Government Insurance, Saskatchewan driver's licence program — the identity, residency, and entitlement documents for a first application, when a driver's examination is required, the 90-day rule for new residents, the honoured-country exchange list, the test-free exchange requirements, and the waiver of the learning period and driver training with proof of past experience.
• Saskatchewan Government Insurance, Driver's licence — visitors and full-time students do not have to exchange their licence while studying in Saskatchewan, and new residents may drive on their current licence for 90 days after taking up residence.