Opening a Home-Based Driving School in Ontario

Contact Trubicars regarding how to open a home-based driving school in Ontario using Trubicars curriculum.

• Call or text: 647-760-5505
• Email: info@trubicars.ca

Home-based businesses have long been a good choice for people who are independent and self-motivated. Now more than ever, running a home-based business (driving school) in Ontario is a good option in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even in these times of closures and uncertainty, people need to know how to drive. With the help of an MTO approved online curriculum and a vehicle to use for teaching practical skills to students, opening a home-based driving school in Ontario is a good opportunity for anyone concerned about the future and with a desire to help others.

Should You Open a Home-Based Driving School?

Before you submit your application to open your home-based driving school in Ontario, let’s look at the big picture.

First consider the many advantages as well as the disadvantages of owning and operating a home-based driving school in Ontario.

Advantages of opening a home-based driving school in Ontario

• Minimize overhead costWorking from home has many benefits. Without the need for classroom space, costs can stay quite low. You will save a lot of money by not paying rent or lease, internet, phone etc.
• No limits on student enrollmentsMTO approved online curriculum allows many students to study online at the same time. These days, when in-person classes are constantly at risk due to the COVID-19 virus, the security of knowing that classes can continue uninterrupted will be a drawing point for many students.
• No need for office staffThere will be no need for office staff when you are working from home.
  Students will complete everything online at their own pace. You can also ask your family members to help you with the phone calls or booking lessons etc.
• Classroom instructor (do you need one?)According to the MTO requirements, each driving school offering online courses will need a digital driving instructor. The good news is that many curriculum owners offer this service. You can sub-contract their digital driving instructor for your driving school. Trubicars curriculum (the first MTO approved online curriculum) offers this service at no extra cost.
• No franchise feesBefore the home-based driving school option, anyone interested in opening a driving school in Ontario used to buy a franchise from another school. The fees were anywhere between $25k to $100k. The home-based driving school model completely eliminate the need to purchase a franchise. It is very simple to open a driving school now anywhere in Ontario.
• Tax benefitsHome-based driving school owners also have the ability to benefit from a tax break available only to them. You can claim the home office space area in your taxes. We recommend you check with your accountant to learn more about the tax benefits.

Disadvantages of opening a home-based driving school

• You cannot offer classroom or virtual classesAccording to the MTO guidelines, if you are a home-based driving school, you can only offer online (elearning, digital whatever you want to call it). Unfortunately, you won’t be able to offer the traditional classroom curriculum. You might lose some clients who are only interested taking the course in the classroom.
• Clients (students) might show up at your homeClients might find your driving school address on Google maps and not realize that you are a home-based driving school and might show up at your home to book lessons or ask you questions. Keep in mind that mad customers can show up at your door as well and make a scene in front of your neighours.

How to Home-Based Driving School in Ontario

A well-maintained vehicle and a solid curriculum are the two basic requirements for anyone wishing to open a driving school.  Driving a vehicle requires significant learning as students need to know everything from how and when to use the signal lights to the proper procedure for entering highways and freeways.

For that kind of learning, a curriculum approved by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario is mandatory. The Ministry’s Beginning Driver Education (BDE) Program Curriculum Standards web page explains such requirements as the approach, structure, and content that any online courses must follow.

Trubicars was the first company to have an MTO-approved online curriculum in the province. Even with other providers now operating in the province, it is still the most widely used e-learning curriculum in Ontario for beginner driver education.

This curriculum covers everything a student needs to know to pass the written test and to drive safely, including the correct procedures for construction zones, how to manage driver fatigue, and more. With scenarios for participants to consider and much more, the curriculum gives students the chance for practical applications of what they will need to know both for the G1 test and for safe driving in the future.

While the face-to-face connections of in-person classes are limited with online learning, students can benefit from the ease of online instruction, done from their own homes. For the business owner, this model cuts down on the expense of office staff while allowing for flexible hours. Family life can benefit as it allows people to stay home to look after children or take time to look after elderly parents or other daily tasks.

Besides being convenient, this option cuts out franchise fees and travel costs for teaching the curriculum. At tax time, owners can claim the office section of their homes as business expenses while having few extra charges for utilities such as phones or the Internet. Instead of paying for office staff such as receptionists, business owners can concentrate on hiring driving instructors if they wish, or simply keep the business as a one-person effort. For the COVID-19 era, this type of business model is ideal.

For all of these reasons and more, home-based driving schools are becoming very popular. Although some students may wish to return to in-person classes when this becomes possible in the post-COVID era, home-based driving schools are likely to continue to attract many people, both the business owners and the students.

In these uncertain times, having a dependable source
of income is important. Meanwhile, people still need to learn how to drive and
to negotiate the roads safely. A home-based driving school with an MTO-approved
curriculum such as Trubicars offers is a good choice for anyone who is
interested in helping students learn the best methods for operating a vehicle in
Ontario.

Contact Trubicars regarding how to open a home-based driving school in Ontario using Trubicars curriculum.

• Call or text: 647-760-5505
• Email: info@trubicars.ca