Becoming a B.C. resident comes with a fair amount of perks but there's one requirement that's widely ignored by new residents, getting a provincial driver's licence.
According to Sgt. Dave Bell of the Burnaby RCMP traffic services unit, foreign licences being used by immigrants is a problem in the city, and throughout the Lower Mainland.
"People seem to just come here and drive around on their licences. Common sense tells you 'gee, I guess if I'm going to live here I better get a licence,' but many of the people ... seem to either not follow up, or ignore it, or their understanding of the requirements is confused," he said.
The issue becomes even more problematic when considering the various exemptions in Section 34 of the Motor Vehicle Act. For example, foreign or out-of-province students can continue to use their own driver's licences for up to six months, Bell said.
"They're students, so they're not taking up residency," he said. "But if they're taking up residency and you've come to Canada, then there's this limitation of 90 days."
Bell added that if the students ignore this regulation and continue to drive with a foreign licence, it becomes invalid and can be seized by an officer.
For all other new residents to the province, they have 90 days to get a B.C. driver's licence, Bell said.
"What we would do to establish whether or not we feel they've been a resident ... we would look at our police database," he said.
If the database shows a violation, or police file older than six months this indicates to the officer that the driver is most likely a resident, Bell said.
From there, the officer would check the driver for any other provincial identification, including a CareCard or B.C. identification card.
"The police officer (could then) seize the licence and give a ticket for $109," he said.
According to Bell, it's important that drivers are using a valid licence because if they aren't, it means any vehicle they drive is uninsured and, in most cases, ICBC will declare the insurance policy invalid.
"If you're not properly licensed to drive in B.C. then you have no insurance," he said. "The requirement of the Motor Vehicle Act is, if you're going to drive and have insurance and all those things, you have to be licensed to do it."
New residents looking for information on driver's licences and requirements can visit www.icbc.com.
