Ontario G road test · Smiths Falls
Three practice routes, the habits the test checks, and a checklist for each practice drive.
Confirm the current rules and hours with DriveTest before your test.
Local test reports from experienced drivers name the same problems again and again: checks that are not visible, late speed changes and hurried turns.
Look left, ahead and right, and check both sidewalks before you arrive. If nothing conflicts, hold a steady speed. Do not lose speed just because you turn your head. If a pedestrian, a car edging out or a blocked view appears, slow down and be ready to stop.
Before a left turn, check for pedestrians behind you on the left. Before a right turn, check for pedestrians behind you on the right. Both matter equally. Also check the turn path, both sidewalks and cyclists. Look past the A-pillar as a separate check from the blind spot. Keep each head check short, then look ahead again.
On a short faster section, speed up when it is safe. When you see a lower limit ahead, start to slow so that you are at or under it when you reach the sign. Do not drive slower than the conditions need. There is no tolerance over the limit that you can rely on.
Stop completely in the correct position and leave room to yield. If your view is blocked, creep forward slowly when it is safe and stop again if you need to. When the gap stays safe, move off smoothly. Do not hesitate again and again, and do not force your way out.
Before the tracks, slow down, look and listen both ways, and make sure the whole car fits on the far side. Follow the signals, gates and signs. There is no fixed crossing speed: let the sight lines, the road surface and the signals decide how much you slow or whether you stop.
A green light does not remove the checks: oncoming traffic, pedestrians and the blind spot. Finish most of your braking before you turn, so you do not rush out and correct the steering after. Follow a smooth path into the matching lane, then speed up once the car is straight.
While you deal with one hazard, keep up the other tasks: scanning, speed, signals, blind spots and yielding.
At each intersection, turn, lane change, stop sign or railway crossing, recall the full set of actions for that kind of situation and complete each one. Knowing the route never replaces the actions.
Each link opens a full loop in Google Maps that starts and ends at the test centre plaza. Drive each one on its own.
Enters town on Broadview, loops Main downtown, and returns on Vincent and Pearl.
Open Route 1A complete practice route from a shared Google Maps link, kept unchanged. It is not an official route, and the test can differ.
Goes straight into town on Jasper, follows Market north to Russell, and adds Broadview on the way back.
Open Route 2Rebuilt from a hand-drawn route map posted on Xiaohongshu (RedNote) in June 2024. Unclear links on the map were completed with the current roads. Russell St can be closed at some times. If it is closed, drive another route.
Goes straight into town on Jasper, loops only Main downtown, returns on Brockville, then takes Broadview to Percy.
Open Route 3Built from a complete written route in a viewer comment under a YouTube video of a May 2024 test. Real tests can differ.
Open a route in the Google Maps app while you are parked. A phone browser can drop some stops. Check that all stops are there, then start navigation or connect CarPlay.
The stops only keep the route on the right streets. You do not stop at them.
These are practice routes, not the official test route. On test day, follow the examiner, the signs and any road closures.
Check the mirrors and the blind spot on that side before you change lanes, turn or leave a parking space. Move your head a little to see past the A-pillar. Keep head checks short, then look ahead again. After any wait, check again before you move.
Before you go straight through on green, scan the crossing roads, both sidewalks and bike lanes. Check your mirrors regularly; you do not need to count seconds. Tricks such as a cap or a mirror set out of position do not replace real head checks.
Test takers often report a short 80 km/h section that drops to 50 km/h soon after. Speed up when it is safe, watch for the next sign and curve, and slow smoothly. Do not race to 80 and then brake hard.
Watch for children and school crossings, for example on Percy St. A Community Safety Zone does not automatically mean 40 km/h: read the posted limit and times. At a pedestrian crossover or a school crossing guard, wait until the whole road is clear. Leave enough space when you follow and when you stop.
None of the three routes has a 400-series on-ramp, but the test still includes faster highway driving. Practise merging anyway: mirrors, signal, blind spot, a usable gap and a matching speed. Under pressure, do not freeze because you fear speeding up or slowing down.
Slow before the turn. Follow the correct path into the matching lane without cutting the corner or drifting into another lane. Once you are back up to speed, signal, check the mirrors and blind spot, and change lanes when it is safe.
On a yellow light, stop if you can do it safely; if you cannot, go through with care. If you are already in the intersection to turn left, finish the turn when it is safe. If you did not hear an instruction, ask. If there is no time for a safe turn or lane change, let it go instead of braking or swerving. After a small mistake, get the next action right.
Do not count on an easier examiner at a certain time of day, a few km/h of speed tolerance, or a fixed three-second stop. Good preparation, clear actions and safe decisions are what count.
Do each routine in order. Signs and the right of way come first. If you wait or the situation changes, check again before you move.
Common misses: Watching only traffic from the left and missing pedestrians or cyclists behind you on the right; not checking for pedestrians again before moving off.
Common misses: Missing pedestrians behind you on the left; turning the wheels left while waiting; turning while oncoming traffic blocks your view; swinging straight into the right lane.
Common misses: Steering straight after signalling; turning your head for too long without looking ahead; crossing two lanes at once.
Common misses: Rolling stops; stopping for three seconds but not yielding; making the first stop with the front of the car already in the crosswalk.
Common misses: Watching only the light and the car ahead; blocking the intersection; changing lanes in the intersection.
Common misses: Watching only the reversing camera; blocking the sidewalk while waiting for a gap; pushing straight from the lot into traffic.
A recording shows what you said, when you said it, and whether the decision made sense. It cannot prove that you turned your head or stopped fully, and silence does not mean that you skipped a check.
On a later drive, change one turn or the order, to check that you are not only remembering the route. Commentary is a practice method. You do not talk through the real test.
Tick an item only after your passenger confirms that you did it. This is a practice record, not a test score.
For example: the time or place, what happened, what the recording says, what the passenger saw, and what to practise next.
Your ticks and notes stay in this browser only. You can also print this page for your passenger.