Starting next month, prospective drivers will have to undergo close to 40 hours of instruction prior to obtaining their licence.
Driving lessons come at a price, and to protect consumers from price-gouging, the Quebec government is capping fees at $825 plus tax.
The price for mandatory courses is worrisome for 17-year-old Amanda Downer.
"If the prices are going up, I'm going to have to save more for education and my car licence, so it's going to be kind of hard to do both," she said.
The new course regulations, which come into effect Jan. 17, include 15 hours of practical driving instruction and 24 hours of theory.
The price for providing those lessons is hefty, said Oren Preisler from Morty's Driving School.
"When the volume gets bigger, and you start having to get more cars and more instructors and business expenses. We're going to need to charge more," he said, putting his ideal price point at $950 to $1000. The transport ministry said 2010 will be a trial period, and the maximum price will likely be re-evaluated in 2011.
The National Driving School also complains there's a ceiling, but no floor.
"If there is a maximum, then there will have to be a minimum also, because especially downtown, everybody will just go crazy, and go lower and lower and lower," said Emilie Kanemy with the National Driving School.
What they need, they say, are government subsidies.
"At one time, a driving instructor made a decent living, and lately it's been depressed," said Andrew Matthews of Morty's.
