Driver licensing

Accepted identification (ID)

To help protect your identity and privacy, you need to show accepted ID each time you attend an appointment at our driver licensing offices. Please double-check that you're bringing the right ID before coming in—it could save you an extra trip or other delays.

Confirm what ID to bring

Answer a few quick questions online to make sure you bring the right ID:

Accepted ID

You'll need to bring two pieces of ID: one primary, one secondary.

|

Additional ID requirements

​Photocopies

Each identification document must be an original, or a true copy of the original, certified by the issuing government agency.

Non-English documents

If your licence, driving record or ID are in a language other than English, they must be translated by an ICBC-approved translator pdf. Fees and services vary for each translator; please contact them for more information.

All documents must be translated from original documents or from a copy of the original that has been approved and stamped by a driver licensing office. The original or stamped and approved copy of the original must also be presented when submitting a translated document to a driver licensing office.

Name changes

If your name has changed (or is different from the name shown on your ID), proof of the name change must be provided.

If you don't have the right ID

If you were born outside Canada and don't have the required primary ID, please contact Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada at 1-888-242-2100.

Due to Covid-19, the Government of Canada has been taking several months to process applications for their ID cards. This includes replace​​ment ID such as an expired Permanent Resident Cards. In many cases we will be able to issue you an interim (paper) driver's licence until your Government of Canada ID arrives. Please contact us if you are unsure what other ID we would accept to allow you to obtain an interim driver's licence.​

Your full legal name

When you first become our customer we will take your full legal name and date of birth from what we call a foundation document, a type of identification that establishes or changes your full legal name and date of birth.

If you have more than three given names, we will use the first three in the order that they appear on the foundation document. For changes to a surname due to a marriage or divorce, you'll also need to bring supporting documents that show the link from your birth surname to the surname(s) you wish to use.

Foundation documents

If you're born in Canada, your legal name is the full name that appears on your birth certificate issued by a Canadian Vital Statistics agency.

If you're born outside of Canada, your legal name is the full name that appears on your most recent immigration document issued by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, such as your

If there's a mistake in your foundation document, you must get this corrected by the issuing government agency. We will only use the exact full legal name on your foundation document(s).

Protect yourself from fraud

When you first apply for a driver's licence, you'll be asked to provide ICBC with a security keyword. To protect yourself from fraud, keep your keyword secure like you would any password and don't share it with anyone outside of ICBC, including a driving school.

Choosing or changing your keyword

Choose a keyword you can remember easily but cannot be guessed by someone else. The keyword can include characters, numbers, symbols, spaces and punctuation.

You can change your keyword by booking an appointment to visit an ICBC driver licensing office. Make sure you bring two pieces of identification (one primary, one secondary) with you.

information-circle

Reset your keyword

Reset your ICBC keyword by calling our driver licensing information line​.

Using your keyword when booking a road test

You'll need your keyword to book a road test online. Note that it is not case-sensitive.

If a driving school is booking a road test on your behalf, do not provide your security keyword. Driving schools do not require this keyword for any reason.