Vehicles-for-Hire & Transport · 6 min read · Last updated
The probationary licence exists to solve one problem: a new driver has an offer of work but has not finished the mandatory training courses. It gives you 90 days behind the wheel while you complete them, with no fee on the initial application. What it does not give you is any flexibility at the end, because there are no extensions.
The City of Hamilton lists this under its “Mobile” category: “Taxicab Driver means a person who is licensed as such or required to be licensed as such under this Schedule and includes a taxicab owner who drives a taxicab.”
Who needs this licence?
This licence is for a person who wants to drive a taxicab in Hamilton but has not yet completed the training required for a full taxi cab driver licence. A taxicab driver means a person who is licensed as such or required to be licensed as such under Schedule 25, and that includes a taxicab owner who drives a taxicab.
You cannot apply in isolation. A completed and signed Broker or Taxi Cab Owner Probationary Application Form is part of the checklist, so a brokerage or plate owner must be prepared to put you to work.
Treat this as a starting point rather than a lighter alternative. It runs for 90 days only. The training must be completed before that expiry, no extensions are given, and after 90 days a driver who wants to keep working has to submit the requirements for the full taxi cab driver licence.
What documents do you need?
Five items make up the temporary licence checklist, and four of them are things you gather yourself.
The completed application form opens the file. A Criminal Records and Judicial Matters Check dated within 36 days, from the police service board where you live, covers your background, and third party clearances will not be accepted. A driver abstract dated within 36 days covers your driving record. Your driver licence class is recorded as well, so bring your provincial licence.
The fifth item is the one you cannot control. A completed and signed Broker or Taxi Cab Owner Probationary Application Form must come from the brokerage or plate owner you intend to drive for. Ask for it as soon as you have the offer, because chasing a signature is what usually delays these applications.
Compare this list with the full driver licence checklist and the difference is training. The full licence adds a one-day customer service class and an online eight-hour course; the probationary licence lets you start before you have them and requires you to finish them within the 90 days.
Zoning and premises requirements
Zoning has no application to a probationary taxi driver licence. It is a personal licence, held by you and carried with you, and there is no premises attached to it.
Zoning applies to where a business operates. The brokerage that dispatches you occupies premises, and that address has to satisfy the zoning by-law through the taxi cab broker licence, but that is the brokerage's obligation and not yours.
Nothing on this checklist involves an address, a Zoning Verification Certificate or a zoning fee, and none is required at any point during the 90 days.
Inspections and approvals
There is no inspection attached to the probationary licence. You are not licensing a vehicle or a premises, so there is nothing for an inspector to attend.
The screening is documentary and it happens up front: the criminal record check and the driver abstract, both dated within 36 days, are the equivalent of an inspection for a licence attached to a person.
The vehicle you drive is dealt with elsewhere in the system. A taxicab runs on a plate held under a taxi cab owner licence, and that licence carries a safety standards certificate and an inspection of the vehicle by a Licensing Officer. As a probationary driver, those obligations sit with the owner.
How much does it cost?
There are no fees associated with the initial application for the probationary licence. That is unusual in Hamilton's licensing system and it is deliberate, since the licence exists to let someone start earning while they train.
The costs you will meet are the ones outside the City's fee schedule: the police check and the driver abstract are both paid for where you order them, and the training courses have their own costs.
There is a saving waiting at the other end. If you provide a Certificate of Completion for the Accessible Training course, the licensing fee is waived for the first year, so the training you are required to complete anyway can offset the cost of the full driver licence.
Amounts for the full licence sit in the City's fee schedule and are confirmed when you apply for it. Nothing is payable to obtain the probationary licence itself.
How to apply
Line up the work first. Ask the brokerage or plate owner for a completed and signed Broker or Taxi Cab Owner Probationary Application Form, since the application is incomplete without it.
Order your criminal record check and driver abstract on the same day, so both are inside the 36-day window when you submit, and bring your provincial driver licence so your class can be recorded.
Submit the completed application with all five items. No fee is charged on the initial application.
You will be issued a paper licence rather than a municipal photo ID card. Check that the expiry date on it shows the 90-day expiry and not a one-year date, and keep the paper licence with you at all times when you are driving, because there is no photo card to fall back on.
Renewals and staying compliant
The probationary licence is not renewed and it is not extended. It runs for 90 days and stops.
The training must be completed before the 90-day expiry. No extensions are given, so book the courses in the first weeks rather than the last.
After 90 days, a driver who wants to keep working submits the requirements for the full taxi cab driver licence, which adds the certificates of completion for the one-day customer service class and the online eight-hour course to the documents you already provided.
If you also complete the Accessible Training course and provide the certificate, the licensing fee for the full licence is waived for the first year. That is the practical reason to do the accessible training during the probationary period rather than later.
Quick quiz: test what you learned
Three questions, all answered in this guide. Click an answer to check it.
1. What does the probationary licence cost to apply for?
The guide states plainly that no fees are associated with the initial application for the 90-day probationary licence.
2. What form of licence is issued to a probationary taxi driver?
No municipally issued photo ID is taken, so the driver receives a paper licence showing the 90-day expiry and must keep it with them at all times when driving.
3. What happens if training is not completed within the 90 days?
The applicant must complete training prior to the 90-day expiry and no extensions are given, so continuing to drive requires the full driver licence requirements to be submitted.
Skip the paperwork
Tell Permits2Go about your business and it assembles the licence application for you — document checklists, e-signatures and a guided workspace for Hamilton, with more cities on the way.
This guide is general information, not legal or professional advice. Licensing requirements, by-laws and fees change and vary by municipality — always confirm the current rules with the City before you apply.