TORONTO — The Ontario government says it is temporarily changing the G-level driving road test to help reduce a backlog caused by COVID-19 restrictions and closures.

A spokeswoman for Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney says the province will remove some elements from the G test that are also assessed in the lower-level G2 test, such as parallel parking, three-point turns and roadside stops.

Dakota Brasier also says in a statement that routes to and from testing locations will be modified so they are more direct.

She says the changes will make the test shorter, which will allow more tests to be booked and completed.

Brasier says the modified G road test will be in place until at least March 31 but the G2 test will remain the same.

The Ministry of Transportation has said hundreds of thousands of driving tests have been cancelled due to the pandemic since March 2020.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2022.

The Canadian Press