Would-be drivers in British Columbia are now allowed to take the knowledge test for their learner's licence online and at home. 

B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma says the change came into effect on Tuesday. 

"This change is about making that first step more accessible, while making sure every new driver is prepared for the road ahead," she says.

The online exams will apply for passenger vehicles and motorcycles, but people who want to drive commercial vehicles must still pass the knowledge test in person.

Sharma, who announced the change at an ICBC licensing office in Burnaby, B.C., says the new online option gives learning drivers more choice and convenience. 

"This is especially good news for people in rural and remote communities who used to have to commute far distances to take the test," she says.

She says offering online tests will free up space at licensing offices for other in-person appointments such as road tests, while ICBC says moving the knowledge test online is part of a larger modernization program.

The online test will cost as much as the in-person version at $15, and it is the same in terms of material, requiring applicants to correctly answer 40 out of 50 questions.

The government says applicants can complete the test on a computer with a camera and secure internet, but not on a mobile device.

ICBC president Jason McDaniel says ICBC delivers about 300,000 knowledge tests every year, and online testing will reduce in-person testing.

Changes in the knowledge test won't ease wait times for road tests, he says. 

"(But) what it will do is free up for all those other in-office appointments, renewing your licence, new people coming into the province ... or people coming in to take the knowledge test," McDaniel says.

The statement says that people who pass their tests must still visit a licensing office to confirm their identity, as well as take a vision test and photo.

McDaniel says the online version of the knowledge test involves state-of- the-art technology with constant monitoring to detect and prevent cheating. 

"We have a list of criteria that must be followed by the test taker in a controlled environment," he says. Those criteria, he says, include a well-lit room. 

A photo taken at the start of the test must match the person, who is in the room taking the test, McDaniel says. "There's video monitoring the whole time. That's why you have to have a camera on your computer."

The testing system also monitors the mouse clicks during the test, he adds.

"You have to stay within the screen, and it monitors that no one else is in the room," he says. 

McDaniel says the Crown corporation is focused on modernizing and enhancing digital services.

"Bringing the knowledge test online is the first step in transforming driver licensing in B.C.," he says. "We're also looking ahead to offering online renewals and replacements for B.C. driver's licences and (British Columbia Identification Cards) starting in 2027, as we continue to put our customers at the centre of everything we do." 

Sharma says the online testing builds on other changes to make government services more accessible and affordable. 

They include the graduated licensing program.

Legislation passed this spring removes the requirement for a second road test to obtain a full a Class 5 licence and replaces it with a new 12-month restriction period, during which drivers must demonstrate safe driving behaviour.