ICBC's Victoria Road Test Office on McKenzie Avenue: What the Area Asks of You
ICBC's Victoria road test office on McKenzie Ave: counted traffic, school zones, hills, cyclists and the four failure reasons.
Written by Azy, Driving instructor · Reviewed by Joyce, Chief Executive Officer · Updated August 2, 2026 · 7 min read · Victoria Road Test
ICBC's Victoria driver licensing office is at 1-1150 McKenzie Ave, and it books Class 5, 6, 7 and 8 road tests online. Every few weeks someone asks us for the route that leaves it. Nobody outside ICBC has it, and ICBC says so plainly on its Book a road test page: “any sites which claim to sell our test routes did not obtain that information from ICBC. We do not make this information available outside ICBC.”
What you can prepare for is the area. The streets around that office have been counted and signed by public bodies, so what they demand is on record rather than rumour. For eligibility, booking, fees and what to bring, use our Class 7 preparation guide and test-day checklist instead. No article or lesson can guarantee a pass.
What makes you fail an ICBC road test?
In a July 19, 2023 announcement, ICBC said nearly half of drivers were failing to pass their first attempt. That was a province-wide figure published in 2023, not a pass rate for the Victoria office, and ICBC publishes no office-level breakdown. Its Road Test Skills Explainer scores five competencies (Observation, Space Margin, Speed, Steering and Communication), then lists four reasons a test can be failed.
| Failure reason | ICBC's definition | What it means on the road |
|---|---|---|
| Skills | Inability to meet the minimum criteria for the driving skills listed in each of the core competencies. | No single dramatic event is needed; repeated errors across the five competencies can end a test. |
| Dangerous Action | An action or lack of action which could result in a collision or loss of control. Driver Examiner or other vehicle must take action to prevent collision. | If the examiner or another road user has to act to avoid you, the outcome is effectively decided. |
| Violation | Behaviour that exceeds the range in the applicable criteria and is typically a ticketable offence, e.g. does not stop at red light. | Speeding in a school or playground zone, running a red, missing a required stop. |
| Other | Inability to operate equipment once test has begun. Unwilling or unable to perform manoeuvre. Hitting objects, driving over curbs/sidewalks. | Not knowing your own controls, declining a manoeuvre or mounting a curb are each enough. |
ICBC publishes no numeric pass mark, so a school or video quoting an exact “point cutoff” is not quoting ICBC. Note too one distinction people merge: ICBC's What to expect during your road test sheet states that “when completing a parking manoeuvre, touching the curb is not a FAIL”, while driving over curbs or sidewalks sits under Other. Light contact is not fatal; mounting the curb is a different matter.
The traffic around the office is measurably heavy
The District of Saanich counts this corridor. A week-long count on McKenzie between Borden and Blenkinsop, from October 25 to November 1, 2023, recorded an average weekday volume of 29,797 vehicles at an average speed of 49 km/h. Six-hour intersection counts the same month logged 21,503 vehicles at McKenzie and Quadra and 18,031 at McKenzie and Borden.
One detail beats those headline numbers. Saanich noted that westbound volumes in the weekday 3–4 p.m. hour were “significantly affected by queuing through the corridor,” causing the counter to under-report by as much as 40 per cent. The queues here defeated the counting equipment. The busiest single hour was not the afternoon but 8–9 a.m., at 2,312 vehicles, so an early appointment puts you in the heaviest hour of the week and inside school-zone hours at once. Saanich states its counts are informational and not guaranteed accurate, and they say nothing about which streets an examiner will use.
When does a 30 km/h school zone apply in B.C.?
A school zone signed 30 km/h applies on a regular school day, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or the longer times shown on the sign. A playground zone signed 30 km/h applies dawn to dusk, every day, weekends and holidays included. That last difference is the one drivers miss.
Both rules come from Motor Vehicle Act section 147. They matter here because Reynolds Secondary sits at 3963 Borden St, just south of the McKenzie and Borden intersection counted above. ICBC names speeding in these zones among the most common road test mistakes, and a school warning sign without a 30 km/h tab does not by itself create the limit.
Speed limits change quickly across this area
The office is in Saanich, but test driving crosses municipal lines. The City of Victoria completed 30 km/h limits on local streets in December 2025 and is moving most major streets to 40 km/h during 2026, though Blanshard and Douglas north of Caledonia stay at 50. Those changes do not apply automatically in Saanich, Oak Bay or Esquimalt. Read every sign and never inherit your speed from the car ahead. ICBC also warns that “in addition to speeding violations, you may be assessed for going too slow in low risk situations.”
Pedestrians, cyclists and turns
The Quadra count logged roughly 1,365 pedestrian crossings and 260 buses in six hours. That volume is why turn observation carries so much weight here. ICBC's tip sheet is specific: shoulder check right on every right turn for cyclists and pedestrians, scan the intersection before entering even on a green, stop fully behind the stop line, and mirror, signal and shoulder check before any lane or direction change.
When passing a cyclist or another person covered by section 157.1 and Division 48, the minimum lateral distance is generally 1 metre at 50 km/h or less, 1.5 metres above 50 km/h, and 0.5 metre where the person is on a sidewalk or in a protected cycle lane. A minimum distance never makes an otherwise unsafe pass acceptable.
On left turns, section 174 requires you to yield to oncoming traffic in the intersection or “so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.” The weak turns we see in McKenzie congestion are rarely the reckless ones. They are indecisive, and ICBC assesses drivers for being unnecessarily cautious as well as unnecessarily aggressive. Keep the wheels straight while you wait, too: ICBC's steering criteria say to avoid angling the car or wheels to the left when waiting to turn left.
Which way do you turn your wheels parking on a hill?
Hill parking appears on the test, and ICBC's Tuning Up for Drivers manual gives the wheel positions directly. Its own summary line is the one to memorise: the only time you leave your wheels turned out to the left is when you park uphill with a curb.
| Situation | Turn the front wheels | How you set it |
|---|---|---|
| Downhill with a curb | Right | Move forward slowly until the right front wheel touches the curb. |
| Uphill with a curb | Left | Let the vehicle roll back slowly until the tire touches the curb. |
| Uphill or downhill without a curb | Right | If the vehicle rolls, it rolls away from the street rather than into it. |
In each case, park within 30 cm of the curb and apply the parking brake fully. On a very steep uphill start in an automatic, ICBC says you may need the parking brake to stop the car rolling back. The manual assumes a two-way street, so reverse right and left on the left side of a one-way.
What surprises people on an ICBC road test?
- Touching the curb while parking is not a fail. Stated in those words.
- Back-up cameras do not need to be disabled, but you should not rely solely on the camera while backing.
- When asked to pull over and park, park as if you were leaving the vehicle overnight. Leave the engine running.
- You may ask questions, best before the test starts, and the examiner will not trick you or ask you to break the law.
- GPS, navigation and recording devices must be off. ICBC recommends turning a phone off completely.
Practising for these roads
Build practice around what the area demands: arterial pacing on McKenzie, sign recognition on a school day near Reynolds, right turns with a deliberate cyclist scan, hill parking until the wheel direction is automatic, and left-turn gap judgment at busy signals. Practise legally, with a qualified supervisor.
Does the October 19, 2026 change affect this?
The Class 7 road test from learner to novice is unchanged. What changes is the second road test, which a Driving Record Assessment replaces for eligible novice drivers. Read our GLP change summary before relying on a future date.
Optional local preparation
A learner can prepare entirely through legal supervised practice and ICBC's free guides. For structured feedback on these specific roads, road test preparation and driving lessons are options. A lesson or mock evaluation does not reproduce an ICBC examination and cannot guarantee a passing result.
Official sources
- ICBC, Road Test Skills Explainer (MV2959) and What to expect during your road test (MV2661).
- ICBC, road test success tips (July 19, 2023), and Book a road test.
- ICBC, Tuning Up for Drivers : hill parking and hill starts.
- District of Saanich traffic counts: McKenzie between Borden and Blenkinsop, McKenzie and Quadra and McKenzie and Borden (October 2023).
- City of Victoria, Lower Speed Limits.
- Province of B.C., Motor Vehicle Act : sections 147, 157.1 and 174.
Sources were checked on August 2, 2026. What these bodies publish can change, and posted signs always govern. Confirm the official pages and your licence conditions before booking.