Controversy over the phenomenon of Chinese driving schools in small towns: Secrets of coaches' profit-making model revealed_297

On the second day, a reporter from the Star visited the test site again and spotted two vehicles from Chinese driving schools in Scarborough parked in front of the examination center. They had brought eight candidates from Toronto, and these were the only candidates the reporter observed taking the test in Bancroft that day.

Editor's note: The Toronto Star, Canada's largest local English newspaper, reported on the controversial phenomenon of Chinese driving schools bringing students to small towns for driving tests. Several driving school names mentioned in the original Toronto Star article closely match those sponsoring the HomeNet website in Toronto. For the sake of discretion, the names have been omitted here. Readers interested in the details can refer to the original article.

Chinese candidates from Toronto celebrate passing their driving test in Bancroft. Photo courtesy of the Star.

For years, as dawn breaks, the small northern Ontario town of Bancroft has regularly welcomed several fully loaded Toyota minivans traveling 250 kilometers from Toronto, a city with a population a thousand times larger than Bancroft’s 3,500 residents. These visitors do not come to admire the countryside or experience the charm of the small town but for a rather mundane purpose – to pass their driver's license exams.

Passing the test in Bancroft, which has only one examiner, one main street, and three traffic lights, allows drivers the same privilege to merge into Toronto's heavy traffic flow as any other driver.

No words can overstate the tranquility of Bancroft – it takes over an hour of driving just to reach the nearest four-lane highway; rush-hour traffic is merely a distant concept known through CBC broadcasts.

Shane Malloi, who works at a video rental store next to the DriveTest center, acknowledged the quiet roads and sparse traffic, speculating this might be why Toronto driving instructors bring students here daily despite the long journey.

The reasoning behind this practice makes sense. According to the Star's investigation, some Toronto driving schools use Ontario's graduated licensing system, charging $200 per person to transport four candidates per vehicle for a more than three-hour drive to remote towns like Bancroft (passing by or near five test centers along the way). Instructors can coach students on predetermined test routes, and the pass rate here is more than twice that of the Greater Toronto Area.

Why does this happen? It depends on whom you ask.

Instructors claim the long wait times at Toronto test centers compel them to bring students here. However, some students worried about failing in Toronto say their instructors marketed easier tests in smaller towns. Meanwhile, at least one owner of a Scarborough driving school admitted instructors earn more by bringing students to small towns and coaching them on actual test routes used by rural examiners.

The Profit Model Uncovered

The math is simple. If a Toyota Corolla carries four students at $200 each, regardless of whether they pass, the instructor earns $800 per trip (minus the cost of a tank of gas). Brian Patterson, president of the Ontario Safety League, expressed concern, stating that no reputable driving school should need to do this since good schools train students to meet standards and pass exams anywhere in North America.

The league aims to reduce preventable traffic fatalities and injuries in Ontario by enhancing driver education.

Ministry of Transportation: No Issue with Schools' Actions

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation sees no issue with these schools’ actions. Shopping around for test centers is not illegal (a practice that has existed for a long time), and the ministry insists in an email response that standardized testing has eliminated the perception of varying difficulty levels across locations.

Patterson argued that if all road tests are equal, the ministry should seriously review schools marketing easier tests in small towns to attract students outside Toronto.

Relieving Urban Test Scheduling Bottlenecks

In fact, the ministry not only tolerates this practice but encourages driving schools to use the existing system to expedite licensing procedures and relieve the backlog of up to 42-day waits for road tests in large cities like Toronto.

Malloi, who has grown accustomed to seeing Toyota Corollas from Toronto year after year, finds the logic questionable. Passing a test here doesn’t necessarily mean the candidate is ready to drive in Toronto.

A Scarborough driving school’s website reads: "G license without highway test, flexible choice of municipal or township test sites." This school was one of four Ontario Ministry of Transportation-licensed schools observed by the Star bringing Toronto students to Bancroft for tests.

The principal of this school stated he has the right to do so, sending three instructors weekly to Bancroft for tests.

Bancroft Pass Rate: 77.1%, Lindsay Pass Rate: 69.5%, Scarborough Pass Rate: 52.7%

According to data legally obtained in December 2008, Bancroft's road test pass rate was 77.1%, compared to 52.7% in Scarborough. Although agreeing Bancroft is too far, the principal preferred taking students to Lindsay, where the pass rate was 69.5%. He explained that while it took two and a half hours to drive there, he could charge higher fees and let students familiarize themselves with the test route beforehand, something not possible in Scarborough.

In Toronto, instructors are prohibited from showing candidates the examiner's routes, considered cheating and punishable by a $130 fine.

Candidates Concerned About Failing in Toronto

Accounting student Frank Zhang, 24, was among the eight candidates paying $200 each to take G and G2 tests on Monday, March 29th. After passing the G test, he joined two other newly licensed Toronto compatriots at the lone McDonald's within 90 km to celebrate their success.

All three admitted coming here due to concerns about failing in Toronto, acknowledging the simpler road conditions here.

However, outside McDonald's, his surnamed driving instructor disagreed - Bancroft isn't easier to pass but offers quicker scheduling. Despite this, he requested anonymity.

Similarly, he brought his students to familiarize themselves with the test route. While doing so in Toronto would incur a fine, today he avoided penalties and earned $1,600 by bringing eight people to this small town.

On the morning of the second day, another Toyota Corolla driven by Mr. Wang from yet another Scarborough driving school arrived with four students in Bancroft. By evening, all four had obtained their G2 licenses and could now drive in Toronto.

After observing for two days in Bancroft, the Star reporter noticed that out of 15 candidates, 12 were sent by Toronto driving schools. Intercepting the sole examiner in the parking lot of the test center revealed her reluctance to provide her name, saying most candidates don’t come from Toronto, "You may have just happened upon them."

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