Frequently asked questions

Yes. Instructors at both our Surrey and Langley yards teach in English, Punjabi, Hindi and Italian — in the classroom and in the truck — so you learn in whichever you are most comfortable with. Tell us your preference when you register or call (778) 549-1727.

Yes. Tricon is an ICBC-approved driving school for both car driving lessons and commercial truck training, including Class 1 MELT, Class 3 and air brake certification. Each program page lists exactly what ICBC requires for that licence. See about Tricon.

Call or WhatsApp (778) 549-1727, or use our online registration form. We answer the phone ourselves, 9am to 9pm every day including holidays, and can tell you honestly which program and licence path fits your situation before you book anything.

No. The registration form doesn’t take payment — it just gets your details to us so an instructor can call you back. Fees are quoted by phone once we know your program, and we’ll walk you through funding options at the same time.

That’s fine — leave the program field as “Not sure yet” on the registration form, or just call and describe what you’re trying to get to. An instructor will help you figure out the right path.

Phone or WhatsApp — same number, (778) 549-1727. A real instructor answers, not a call centre, 9am to 9pm every day including holidays. Full detail on the contact page.

140 hours: 47 hours of theory and 93 hours of practical training, made up of 19 hours in-yard, 18 hours of off-road manoeuvres, 50 hours of on-road driving and 6 hours of mandatory flexible practical time.

The course cannot be completed in fewer than 30 days, and must be finished within 365 days of enrolment. Most students finish in four to eight weeks depending on how many days a week they can commit.

Yes. Since 18 October 2021, anyone applying for a first B.C. Class 1 driver’s licence must complete an ICBC-approved Class 1 MELT course and be issued a Declaration of Completion before attempting the Class 1 road test. There are no sector-specific exemptions.

Yes — you don’t need to buy it separately. Air brakes are module 10 of the curriculum: 9 hours of theory plus 6.5 hours of practical work. The air brake knowledge questions are also folded into the Class 1 knowledge test taken before the course.

Partly. Up to 10 of your on-road hours may be driven in an automatic; everything else must be in a manual with at least a 13-speed transmission. You choose which to use for the road test — but qualifying in an automatic gets you a restricted Class 1 licence that bars you from manual-transmission vehicles. Plenty of B.C. carriers still run manuals, so our advice is to test on the manual.

Yes. Highway and mountain driving is a required part of the B.C. curriculum and one of the six practical assessments you must pass, and we run it on real mountain highway including the Coquihalla. See mountain driving training.

A single (non-articulated) truck with more than two axles or a heavy gross vehicle weight rating — the straight trucks used as dump trucks, hydro trucks, and construction and municipal vehicles. It also covers towing a trailer over 4,600 kg, and everything already covered by a Class 5 licence.

It does not cover a tractor-trailer combination with a fifth wheel — that’s Class 1 — or buses, which need a Class 2.

No. Mandatory Entry-Level Training applies only to a first B.C. Class 1 licence. There’s no ICBC-mandated minimum number of training hours for Class 3, which is exactly why we assess each student individually rather than sell a fixed-hour package.

Almost always. Most Class 3 vehicles are equipped with air brakes, so you’ll need the endorsement: complete an approved air brake course (or demonstrate equivalent experience), then pass the ICBC air brake knowledge test, with the air brake pre-trip done as part of your road test on a single-unit vehicle. We build this into Class 3 training rather than treating it as a separate purchase.

It comes down to the vehicle, not ambition. If the job is a straight truck — dump truck, hydro truck, delivery truck — Class 3 is the correct licence and there’s no reason to take on Class 1’s 140-hour MELT requirement. If the job is a tractor-trailer, you need Class 1, and Class 3 experience won’t reduce those hours. Tell us the job and we’ll tell you the licence. See Class 1 vs Class 3.

Code 15 is the restriction ICBC places on a B.C. driver’s licence that prohibits driving a vehicle equipped with air brakes. Passing an approved air brake course, plus the knowledge and practical exams, removes that restriction — whatever class of licence you hold.

No. Air brake theory and practical training are already built into both the Class 1 MELT and Class 3 curriculums, so you earn the endorsement as part of that program. This standalone course is for drivers who need Code 15 removed without taking a full commercial program — RV owners, for example, or drivers who need the endorsement added to a licence they already hold.

Yes. We have a certified assessment officer on staff, so your practical air brake assessment happens with us — on the same vehicle you trained on — so you may not need a separate pre-trip test with an ICBC examiner. The ICBC knowledge test is taken at an ICBC driver licensing office.

Some larger motorhomes and diesel-pusher RVs are built on an air brake chassis, so the Code 15 restriction still applies even though the vehicle is driven on a Class 5 licence. Our RV air brake course covers the same ICBC curriculum with examples and practical work suited to motorhome systems, so RV owners can get endorsed without enrolling in commercial truck training.

No. Unlike Class 1 — where the 140-hour MELT course is mandatory — B.C. requires no professional instruction at all for a car licence. You can practise entirely with a qualified supervisor and book the road test yourself. Most people book lessons anyway because an ICBC-approved GLP course is the only thing that takes six months off the novice stage.

A set curriculum ICBC approves for new drivers: at least 16 hours in class, at least 12 hours in the vehicle, and 4 hours of flexible or discretionary time — 32 hours in total. Complete it within one year and while still in the learner stage, keep your record clean, and if you’re under 25 your novice stage drops from 24 months to 18.

It depends entirely on what you bring to the first one. A 17-year-old who has never driven usually wants the full GLP course plus supervised practice between lessons. Someone who drove for a decade in another country often needs two or three sessions to learn what B.C. expects. We treat the first lesson partly as an assessment and tell you honestly what we think, rather than selling a package before we have seen you drive.

Usually not from the beginning. Depending on which country issued your licence, ICBC may exchange it directly, or ask you to pass a knowledge test and one or both road tests. ICBC may also credit driving experience earned abroad toward the graduated licensing stages. ICBC makes the determination, not us — but call before you spend anything and we’ll tell you what we think you’re looking at.

Individual lessons are instruction — a driver in the seat, learning or sharpening a skill, with a Tricon instructor teaching. A pre-employment road test is an assessment — a trucking company sends us a driver candidate and we evaluate how they actually handle a truck, then report back. Same yards, same instructors, different purpose.

Yes. Beyond a single pre-hire assessment, we work with carriers on new-hire onboarding before a first dispatch, refresher sessions for drivers returning from injury or extended leave, and mountain driving assessments before a driver is sent onto the Coquihalla for the first time.

Yes. Highway and mountain driving is one of the six practical assessments B.C. requires in the 140-hour Class 1 MELT curriculum, and it has to be passed twice. What differs between schools is where those hours are spent — we run ours on real sustained mountain grade, including the Coquihalla.

Yes, and we train it on the ground rather than only on a whiteboard — you’ll handle the chains, find the anchor points on the drive tires, and fit them. Commercial vehicles over 11,794 kg travelling designated B.C. mountain highways must carry chains from 1 October to 30 April, with signed chain-up requirements enforced.

Because a single number on a web page would be misleading for most of the people reading it. What you pay depends on which program you need, whether you already hold part of the licence, how much individual instruction you want, and which funding you qualify for. The more useful question isn’t the price alone but what it buys — proper backing and reversing training on real trailers, and actual mountain driving time, not a parking-lot course dressed up as Class 1 training. We would rather give you an accurate figure by phone. Call (778) 549-1727. Full breakdown on course fees & what’s included.

No. Deposits hold your seat and start date, and the balance is arranged around whichever payment or funding route applies to you. We will lay out exactly how it works before you commit to anything.

Often, yes. In-house funding can get you started while a government grant application is still being processed, and grant funds can then be applied once approved. We help students structure this every week — ask us on the phone about your specific situation.

No. WorkBC, the province, and Indigenous and newcomer-serving organizations administer their own programs — we don’t process applications or decide eligibility. We help students understand which routes might fit and how to line up training once funding is confirmed.

No. The BC Employer Training Grant is applied for by the employer, not the individual — it requires a sponsoring B.C. employer with a job in mind for you, current or new hire. If you don’t have an employer behind you, ask us about in-house funding and the other individual-focused provincial programs instead, on our funding page.

Pick whichever yard is closer to drive to regularly — Surrey or Langley. Both run the exact same programs with the same instructors and the same trucks, so the choice comes down to commute, not training quality.

Yes. Surrey and Langley are both open 9am to 9pm, seven days a week, including statutory holidays, with no separate holiday hours.

We don’t have a confirmed opening date or street address yet for Vancouver Island. It will offer car driving lessons for a full Class 5 licence alongside our commercial truck programs. Call (778) 549-1727 to be added to the list and get notified as soon as dates are confirmed. See Duncan and Nanaimo.

We recommend calling or messaging first so we can have an instructor ready for you, but you’re welcome to drop by any Tricon yard during open hours to ask questions or look around.

No, and you should be careful of any school that says it does. No driving school in British Columbia controls a carrier’s hiring decision — your driving record, your road test result, your work history and your interview all belong to you.

What we do is make you employable and put you in front of people who hire. We help you build a resume that a driver recruiter can actually read, we tell you which segments are hiring new Class 1 drivers right now, and we make introductions where we can.

Yes, but not by everyone. The carriers advertising for two years’ verifiable experience are not your market on day one. Your market is the segments that expect to train — local and regional work, dump and gravel, some LTL city runs, and carriers running structured mentorship or team programs. Most drivers who are patient about the first job have far more choice for the second one.

You will almost certainly need to complete B.C.’s Class 1 MELT course regardless of how many years you have driven abroad — ICBC gives no credit for foreign commercial training or experience. The upside is that once you hold the B.C. licence, your years behind the wheel become a genuine advantage in interviews.

Yes. The reviews on our reviews page are quoted, unedited, from our public Google Business Profile, and we name the reviewer the way they posted it. We have not paid for reviews or removed negative ones — if a future review raises a fair problem, we would rather fix the problem than hide the review.

Search “Tricon Driving School” on Google Maps, open the location you trained at, and use the “Write a review” option under the rating. It takes about a minute, and it genuinely helps other students choose a school with confidence.