Service Nunavik offers easier path to earning driver’s licence
People can take theoretical test online, travel to 1 of 4 Nunavik communities that offer practical test
Kativik Regional Government now offers a wider array of services for people in Nunavik seeking to get their Quebec driver’s licence. (File photo by Cedric Gallant)
People in Nunavik now have easier access to driver-related services in their own communities.
Licence registration, individual pre-licensing testing, and road safety awareness programs are among services now available in local employment offices through Service Nunavik, Kativik Regional Government announced Oct. 11 in a news release.
The new features are available through a partnership between KRG and Quebec’s Automobile Insurance Corp., the Quebec Crown corporation responsible for licensing drivers and vehicles in the province.
This access is offered under the Services Nunavik umbrella, which was recently kick-started by Quebec’s employment minister Kateri Champagne Jourdain.
“With the government, there are always new laws, new forms. But with the training of the local employment officers, they will be able to help the clientele more,” said Sabine Georges, KRG’s local employment assistant director, in an interview.
KRG now has a driver safety co-ordinator visiting all 14 communities throughout the year. They can administer the theoretical driver’s exam, which has been translated into Inuktitut.
“This is something that we really wanted to do, and emphasize that it is in the three languages,” said Georges. “Just so everybody can have their fair chance to pass.”
Once an applicant passes the exam, the co-ordinator can set a date for a practical exam which can be done in one of the four driving schools in the region, which are in Kuujjuaq, Inukjuak, Salluit and Kangiqsujuaq.
Georges said people living in communities without driving schools can contact KRG to book a ticket to one of the four communities so they can take the exam.
The co-ordinator will help clients receive their Class 5 driver’s licence, which allows them to drive alone.
“I think it is a customized service,” Georges said. “This is good, because we did not offer that before.”
These new services also come with a plan to raise road safety awareness regionally with promotional campaigns at schools and health centres and with construction companies.
“The first thing people notice when they come here is that not everybody wears a seatbelt,” Georges said.
If KRG wants to emphasize road safety, “we have to talk about that too,” she said.
(0) Comments