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Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar has today signed an agreement to allow for mutual exchange of driving licences between Ireland and Ontario.

This will be a huge benefit to the thousands of Irish citizens living and working in Ontario, as well as to people from Ontario now living and working in Ireland. Ontario is Canada’s most populous province and includes the city of Toronto,

“I’m very pleased we have reached this agreement with Ontario and which has been sought for some time by Irish people living in the Province. Ontario has the largest number of Irish residents of any Canadian province and this agreement will allow them to exchange their Irish driving licences for Ontario licences, rather than having to register as learner drivers.

“This process has involved a great deal of work, and I particularly want to thank the Road Safety Authority and the Irish Embassy in Canada, as well as the authorities in Ontario.

“When I asked the RSA to open discussions on exchange arrangements with the Canadian provinces, I asked them to prioritise Ontario due to its high number of Irish residents. Now that we have reached agreement, it should be possible to reach speedy agreements with the other Canadian provinces.”

The agreement will now be counter-signed in Ontario, and given effect via regulations to be brought in within the next fortnight.