Province adds driver examiners in effort to speed up testing

Nova Scotia is adding 15 new driver examiners with an aim of getting more road tests done.

The province announced Friday it has hired five new examiners to work at Access Nova Scotia centres and is partnering with Safety Services Nova Scotia to hire and train 10 more.

Public Works said the additional examiners mean 900 more tests will be done per week. The province is also making testing hours longer and adding appointments on weekends.

The current wait time for a test is about six weeks and was as high as 22 weeks last summer, the province said, and before the pandemic waits were in the range of 10 to 13 weeks. Its goal is to get that wait down to three weeks.