Buying a Driving School in Ontario: MTO Licence, Instructors, Cars and Curriculum

By Jatin Dua · Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty · Updated 29 September 2026 · 10 min read — why the Ministry licence and every instructor licence stay behind, what the buyer must show to be licensed, the Toronto operator licence, vehicles, curriculum rights and the records that prove the numbers.

What you are really buying

A driving school that offers a Ministry-approved Beginner Driver Education (BDE) course is a licensed business, but most of what makes it work belongs to other people or has to be re-issued:

• The MTO driving school licence is not transferable (HTA s. 58.1(7)) and is valid only for the premises named on it (O. Reg. 473/07, s. 17).
• Instructors hold their own licences, which are not transferable (HTA s. 58(5)), and work under written contracts with the school.
• Vehicles with instructor brakes, safety certificates and special insurance.
• The curriculum, which the school either owns or licenses from a third party.
• Students, reviews and the brand.

What the buyer must show to get licensed

Section 18 of O. Reg. 473/07 lists the requirements for a driving school licence. The applicant must:

• be competent to operate a driving school and hold every other licence the business needs;
• own or lease the office premises, and show the office complies with zoning;
• have vehicles that meet section 27;
• have a curriculum satisfactory to the Ministry, a properly equipped, zoning-compliant classroom for any classroom portion, and own or license any digital software used;
• carry general liability insurance of at least $2,000,000 for any one classroom incident;
• have a written contract with one or more licensed instructors;
• be a fit and proper person, or for a corporation have fit and proper officers and directors, and every related person must meet the same test.

The Ministry’s page adds that the BDE curriculum must include at least 20 hours of in-class or digital instruction, 10 hours in-vehicle and 10 hours of flex training, and gives driver.education@ontario.ca as the contact. A first licence runs at least one year; renewals are for three years.

Share purchases and the 15-day notices

If you buy the shares of a licensed corporation, the licence stays with the corporation, but the Act requires the corporation to notify the Minister in writing within 15 days of any change in officers or directors (HTA s. 58.1(8)), and the regulation requires notice within 15 days of any change in information given with the application (s. 31(1)). Because the fit-and-proper test reaches officers, directors and related persons, the Ministry will look at you. It does not publish a policy on whether a share purchase triggers a fresh application, so ask the Ministry in writing before you choose the structure.

In Toronto, the Municipal Code separately licenses driving school operators and instructors, and says no person has a right to the continuance of a licence, whose value belongs to the City. Plan for the Toronto operator licence to be issued in the buyer’s name.

Instructors: the business walks on their feet

Instructors can leave at closing, and their licences go with them. Check each one’s licence and expiry, and whether they are employees or contractors. Toronto’s by-law treats “employed” as including independent contract relationships. For true employees you keep, section 9 of the Employment Standards Act carries their service over to you unless you hire them more than 13 weeks after the earlier of their last day with the seller and the sale date.

The school must notify the Ministry immediately when it signs or ends a contract with an instructor (s. 31(1.1)), so a clean closing needs new or assigned instructor contracts ready on day one.

Cars and curriculum

Every car used for instruction must have a valid permit and plates, a working service brake the instructor can operate, a safety standards certificate issued within the previous year, and automobile insurance of at least $2,000,000 with a driving training school endorsement (s. 27). The Ministry page calls it the 6D endorsement. Get the ownership, lease, insurance and certificate for each vehicle.

If the curriculum is licensed from a third party, read the licence: many are personal to the school and need consent to assign. Without an approved curriculum the buyer’s licence application fails.

Records that prove the numbers

A licensed school keeps student lists, training record sheets, instructor details and contracts at its office for three years (s. 32). It also pays the Ministry $15 for each driver education certificate it issues, with $2.25 refunded for a cancelled one (s. 30). By my reading, that makes certificate fees a regulator-side check on how many students actually completed BDE, which is useful when a seller’s revenue is partly cash.

No Canadian primary source publishes sale multiples for driving schools. Ask for three years of financial statements, certificate counts and Ministry fee payments, student lists, instructor contracts, vehicle records, the curriculum licence, the office lease and any Ministry audit or inspection results.

Asset or share purchase, and HST

An asset purchase means a new licence and new Toronto operator licence in your company’s name, and you pick the liabilities you take on. A share purchase keeps the corporation but brings its history. On sales tax, the section 167 election under the Excise Tax Act can remove GST/HST from most of a sale of substantially all of a business’s assets, if the buyer is a registrant and the parties file CRA form GST44. Your accountant should confirm.

The premises side, including Ministry approval of the office and classroom, is in my post on driving school premises. If the office is a unit you might buy rather than rent, the AI office space value estimator below gives you a starting range. For another business built around licensed people, see buying an insurance brokerage and buying an auto repair shop.

Where I fit

I help buyers and sellers of commercial property across Toronto and the GTA. For a driving school that usually means finding or testing a small office and classroom that meets zoning and the Ministry’s approval, and negotiating a lease that survives a future sale. Book a call or phone 833-330-1925.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Highway Traffic Act — e-Laws — ss. 58 and 58.1, instructor and driving school licences
• O. Reg. 473/07, Licences for Driving Instructors and Driving Schools — e-Laws — requirements, premises, vehicles, records
• Government of Ontario — Open and operate an approved driving school — insurance, premises, BDE hours
• City of Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 545, Licensing — consolidated to 1 January 2025
• Employment Standards Act, 2000 — e-Laws — s. 9, sale of a business and continuity of employment
• Excise Tax Act, section 167 — Justice Laws Website — joint election on the sale of a business
• Canada Revenue Agency — Form GST44 — election concerning the acquisition of a business

Related reading

• Driving school premises in Ontario
• Buying a private school in Ontario
• Buying an insurance brokerage in Ontario
• Buying an auto repair shop
• AI office space value estimator
• Asset sale versus share sale
• Book a call with Jatin