The 15-character Ontario licence number, and why it is all the ministry needs

An Ontario driver's licence number is fifteen characters: one letter followed by fourteen digits, printed on the card in the grouping A1234-56789-01234. It is the only identifier the ministry needs to produce a 3-year driver record, and that single fact is why ordering one in Ontario needs no consent form, no witness and no notarisation.

The shape of the number

One letter, then fourteen digits, shown on the licence in three groups. The letter comes from the surname. The grouping on the card is presentation only - the number is fifteen characters and the hyphens are not part of it.

Because the shape is fixed, a mistyped number is detectable before anyone pays for anything. That matters here more than it usually would, and the next section is why.

The ministry's own system does not check the number for you

This is the failure mode specific to ordering an Ontario record: the number identifies a record, so a validly-shaped number that is not yours simply returns someone else's record or no record, and either outcome is a completed transaction.

Checking the format before submission does not prevent a valid-but-wrong number. What it prevents is the commonest version of the mistake - a transposed digit or a missing one - which produces a number that could not belong to anybody.

Why one number is enough in Ontario and not next door

ServiceOntario states that anyone can order a 3-year driver record if they provide a driver's licence number. The restriction Ontario applies is on the record TYPE, not on the requester: any record that includes an address is limited to the driver themselves or to an authorised requestor holding a signed contract with the ministry, and the driver's licence history is limited to the driver and law enforcement.

Alberta does it the other way round. There, a third party ordering a record needs a consent form signed by the driver and witnessed at a registry agent. Same document, entirely different mechanics - which is why a page about Ontario cannot be turned into a page about Alberta by changing the province name.

Common questions

Do I need my licence card in front of me?

You need the number. If you have it written down accurately, the card itself is not required to order a 3-year record.

Do I need to give my date of birth?

For the 3-year record, ServiceOntario asks for the driver's licence number. Form SR-LC-112, which is the mail channel, has fields for name, date of birth and gender alongside the number.

What if I type the number wrong?

A number of the wrong shape can be caught before submission. A validly-shaped number belonging to someone else cannot be, by us or by the ministry - it is a valid search that returns a different record.

What we could not confirm

These are things this page would have liked to tell you and could not find on a Ministry of Transportation or ServiceOntario page. Rather than guess, they are listed.

  • What positions 2 to 15 of the licence number encode. It is widely reported that some of them derive from the holder's date of birth and sex, and that could not be confirmed on any Ministry of Transportation or ServiceOntario page, so this guide states only the format the ministry's own form requires.

Sources

Everything on this page is checked against a page published by the Government of Ontario or the Ministry of Transportation. Nothing is taken from another commercial site.

Checked 2026-09-04.

Next: how to order your driver's abstract directly from ServiceOntario , or what an Ontario driver's abstract is, and what it is called elsewhere .

This is a guide, not a sales page, which is why there is no price on it. If you do want us to order the record for you, that is what we do — and you can equally order it from ServiceOntario (Ministry of Transportation) yourself.