June 2025
Welcome to our website, please read carefully as the site has been updated.
DRIVERS LICENSE HISTORY: For past students who completed our full defensive driving course and require certificate graduation notice for the Insurance Company, please use this link.
Note: Progressive Driving School does not rent vehicles for the road test.
Driver Training: Progressive Driving School has been providing driver training in Thunder Bay and the surrounding area for 38 years, successfully teaching over 20,000 clients aged between 16 to 99. We helped our students comply with Ministry standards and pass their road tests, which require a basic level of driving aptitude without any motivation to further enhance their driving skills once they obtained their G driver's licence.
Progressive Driving School is no longer committed to providing the Ministry of Transportation B.D.E. driver education courses.
We are still in operation and have been Thunder Bay’s longest continuous driving school since 1986, but we stopped offering the MTO approved Beginner Driving Courses in June 2024.
Since we closed our classroom, the MTO suggested moving to online courses, unfortunately, we didn't agree with the digital curriculum set out by the providers as it did not align with the values that we feel should be taught to new drivers. Therefore, we are now focusing on teaching corporate courses only.
To elevate driving standards in this area, we have decided to focus our expertise on commercial and corporate training.
Our goal is to promote new advanced driving skills, raise awareness of current driving practices and regulations, and support existing safe driving habits.
Driving is an essential life skill that should be taken with commitment by both the teacher and the student. The main emphasis should be driver development with the students learning how to contextualize their learning.
Getting a driver license is essential for many reasons, but secondary to effective practice.
Our corporate driver training program aims to enhance driver skills and safety, reduce collisions, and help both lower insurance costs and vehicle maintenance costs. These programs include defensive driving, advanced vehicle control, and customized training solutions tailored to meet a company's specific needs.
Benefits of Corporate Driver Training:
Collision Reduction: Corporate driver training can significantly decrease the risk of collisions by teaching safe driving practices, collision avoidance techniques, and situational awareness.
Improved Driving Behaviors: Training helps drivers develop better habits, reduce stress, and enhance their overall performance behind the wheel.
Increased Safety Awareness: Corporate driver training promotes safety awareness within the organization, contributing to a safer work environment.
In-Vehicle Assessment and Defensive Driving Training are based on several key principles, including:
Psychomotor Skills: This involves handling the vehicle under various driving and weather conditions. Correct inputs for steering, accelerator, braking, and speed control are essential.
Perceptual Skills: Also known as hazard perception, this refers to the driver's ability to accurately search the driving environment. This includes sign recognition, scanning, and hazard detection.
Spatial Awareness: The ability of a driver to understand their positioning in relation to the driving environment and other road users.
Cognitive Skills: This pertains to the driver’s capability to make appropriate decisions and judgments, as well as communicate effectively with other road users.
Attitudes and Motivations: This involves the driver’s commitment to safety and their willingness to adopt responsible driving behavior, including personal risk assessment and consideration of the company’s brand reputation.
Progressive Driving School has the experience in providing training on safe driving concepts to the following businesses, institutions, and corporations for over 38 years.
Trans Canada Pipelines
Thunder Bay Health Unit
Confederation College
Lakehead University
Children’s Services.
M.N.R.
MTO
City of Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay Regional Health Unit
D.S.T. Englobe engineering
Clean Air Metals
C.S.L engineering
Stantec engineering
St. Joseph's Care Group
