Manitoba’s One-Piece Driver’s Licence

When you’re issued a new Manitoba driver’s licence, you will be provided with a temporary driver’s licence certificate (valid for up to 45 days). You must carry your temporary driver’s licence certificate with you at all times until you receive your permanent, one-piece driver’s licence in the mail. When you get your first driver’s licence, you will be photographed at your Autopac agent or at a Manitoba Public Insurance Service Centre. You’ll need a new photo every five years.

Please be aware that the Manitoba driver’s licence cannot be used to cross the United States border.

Your driver’s licence must be in your possession at all times while driving and must be produced, along with the vehicle registration certificate, when requested by a peace officer.

Manitoba’s one-piece driver’s licence

Drivers under the age of 18 years are issued driver’s licences that show the exact date of the driver’s 18th birthday.

About the Renewal Process

With our convenient driver’s licences and Autopac policies, you’ll only need to visit an Autopac agent once every five years, unless you want to change or cancel your driver’s licence or policy between renewals.

You will receive a renewal notice once every five years when it’s time to renew your driver’s licence and/or vehicle insurance. You need to visit an Autopac agent to review your coverage and renew your driver’s licence and/or vehicle insurance before it lapses

However, you still pay for your driver’s licence and vehicle insurance every year. In years between renewals (reassessment years), you will receive an annual statement of account, telling you what you owe.

Driver Safety Rating

Your position on the Driver Safety Rating (DSR) scale depends on your driving record. High-risk driving moves you down the scale, which means you pay more for your driver’s licence and vehicle premiums.

If you’re a new Manitoba driver with your first driver’s licence, you’ll be at the “base” level on the Driver Safety Rating scale for both vehicle and driver’s licence premiums. After that, for each year you drive safely, you’ll move up the scale and start saving.

How the scale works

Each year, we’ll send you a notice showing you where you are on the scale and what you owe for the next year. We place you on the scale using your driving record for the past year.

Safe driving behaviour will move you up the scale. High-risk driving, including traffic convictions, at-fault claims or alcohol- or drug-related administrative suspensions, will move you down the scale.

Moving up the scale usually results in lower premiums. Moving down the scale means higher premiums, in most cases.

Keep Your Licence Valid

Your licence expiry date is printed on the front of your licence. It’s your responsibility to know when your licence expires and when to renew it.

Each year your licence will be reassessed. You will be required to pay for your driver’s licence every year on your anniversary date, which is four months less a day after your birthday. For example, if your birthday is Sept. 21, your anniversary date is Jan. 20.

If you don’t pay the assessed charges for your licence by the anniversary date, your licence can be suspended. You will also not earn credit in the Learner or Intermediate Stage for the period of time you aren’t licensed.

Illegal use of Driver’s Licence

You may be fined and your driver’s licence suspended if you misuse a driver’s licence by:

Allowing someone else to use your driver’s licence
Misrepresenting yourself when applying for a driver’s licence
Using an outdated or otherwise invalid driver’s licence
Altering, in any way, a registration certificate, a driver’s licence, a motor vehicle liability insurance card or a certificate of insurance
Providing false identification when applying for a driver’s licence or permit
Holding, at any time, more than one valid driver’s licence from Canada or the United States

Mature Driver Program

Mature Driver is an educational program designed to help the senior driver to continue to drive safely. A qualified senior driving instructor, who knows the effects of aging on driving ability, teaches how to compensate for these effects.

The Mature Driver Program focuses on updating driving knowledge, sharpening driving skills and providing techniques to compensate for normal age-related changes that affect driving ability.

Safety Services Manitoba delivers the Mature Driver Program. Courses are available in the Winnipeg, Central, Interlake, Eastman, Westman and Parkland regions of the province.

Parking Entitlement for People with Physical Disabilities

You may apply for a parking permit that allows you to park in spaces designated for people with disabilities if you have a permanent or temporary physical disability:

Requiring the full-time assistance of a mobility aid such as a wheelchair, cane, crutches or walker
Restricting you from walking more than 50 metres without great difficulty or danger to your health or safety

An application form may be obtained from any Society for Manitobans with Disabilities regional office, your medical practitioner or local municipal office.

There’s a fee for a permit or permit renewal. If your disability is permanent, the permit is valid for 36 months. Temporary permits are available for the anticipated length of the disability as certified by a medical practitioner, up to 36 months.

Non-profit organizations can apply for permits for vehicles used to transport people with physical disabilities.

Parking permits must be displayed on the rearview mirror of a vehicle so the’re clearly visible from outside the vehicle for enforcement purposes.

Parking permits are to be displayed only when the vehicle is parked in specially designated parking, not while the vehicle is being driven.

Remember: It’s illegal to park in a space designated for people with disabilities unless you are disabled or you are transporting a person with a disability and a valid parking permit is prominently displayed in your vehicle.