Questions / Answers

Foreign licence: I have a foreign driver’s licence. Do I have to exchange it for a Quebec licence to be allowed to subscribe?
The answer to that question depends on which of the following applies to you:
–  you are a new resident of Quebec
–  you are a tourist or a visitor to Quebec
–  you are a foreign student, cooperant or trainee
–  you are a temporary worker

Whichever your situation, you must be able to provide a billing address in Canada for us to approve your subscription application.

International driving licence: Does it exempt me from having to obtain a Quebec licence?
Legally, the international driving licence is nothing more than an official translation of a driving licence in various languages.
It gives you no practical advantages, and it is of no use if your licence is already written in either French or English.

Probationary licence: Is it possible to join Communauto with only a probationary licence?
If you are at least 21 and have a licence to drive unaccompanied, you are eligible. A probationary licence, however, is not sufficient to rent a vehicle from one of Communauto's rental partners.

Accidents and demerit points: What is the maximum permitted?
DRIVING RECORD (SAAQ): Your driving record must have no mention of impaired driving in the two years preceding your subscription request. Your request will be automatically denied if it contains more than one such infraction. Also, your driving record must not have a total of more than 5 demerit points (they remain in your file for two years following the date you were found guilty or paid the fine). According to the SAAQ, an acceptable file has 0 to 3 demerit points. More than 90% of Quebec’s drivers are in this category.

INSURANCE CLAIMS RECORD (FICHIER CENTRAL DES SINISTRES AUTOMOBILES):
• more than 72 months (6 years) of driving experience: You cannot have been implicated in more than 3 accidents which involved damages greater than $1000. As for accidents where you were at fault, the maximum allowed is 2 (this information remains in your file for 6 years).

• less than 72 months of driving experience: Other criteria apply if your driving experience is less than 72 months.

• probationary licence: Other criteria apply if you have a probationary licence.

To learn how to obtain your files, see the section on “How to join”.

Credit card: Is it necessary to have one in order to use your services?
Communauto does not accept credit card payments. So the fact that you do not have one is not a problem for us. A credit rating check must however be made before you can subscribe.

Insurance: Is it necessary to have personal automobile insurance in order to use Communauto’s vehicles?
No. When you use one of our cars you are automatically covered by Communauto’s insurance; it is included in our rates. In the case of an accident, your liability is limited to the deductible you select upon signing the Contract, i.e. $0, $250 or $500 per accident. Usually, no deductible is billed if you are not at fault for the accident.

Couples (partners): If only one of us is a subscriber, is the other allowed to drive the vehicle?
If only one of you is a Communauto subscriber, the other may only drive the vehicle when the actual subscriber is present. If you both wish to have the same access privileges, the “Family membership” might be the best option for you.

Switching parking stations: Is it possible to take a vehicle from one parking station and drop it off at another?
Unfortunately, that is not possible. You must always return the vehicle to its departure point and pay for the entire time it is away from the station. Any other arrangement would involve greater costs (such as the need to arrange for additional parking spaces at various places for the “visiting” vehicles, to constantly redistribute the cars throughout the network, etc.), and Communauto concluded that it would not be in the best interest of its members to raise prices in order to make this possible. For travelling to another city, you always have the option of taking the train or bus to get there, for example, and using one of Communauto’s vehicles while you are there. Communauto has parking spaces very close to bus and train terminals.

Must I always indicate the time at which I will return the car when I make my reservation?
The period you wish to reserve must be clearly indicated. However, our price schedule gives you a lot of latitude in this matter. For example, in the case of a local trip (a journey of a few kilometres) the cost is the same whether you reserve the car for 12 or 24 hours. As our regular rate varies between $1.66 and $2.20 an hour for these trips, it is generally possible, for a few more dollars, to add some extra time just in case.

If you rent a car at the Long-distance rate, you can reserve by the day and cancel, if necessary, any days that are no longer needed (if you call the day before or before 9 a.m. on the day you want to cancel).

Also, if you choose Package A when you join, you can take advantage of greater freedom thanks to the Workweek rate.

Reserving in advance: How long in advance should I make a reservation to be sure that there will be a vehicle available?
There is no precise interval that can guarantee availability. That said, for weekend trips (or trips lasting several days) it is always advisable to reserve several days in advance, even a week or more, particularly for long weekends in the summertime. This does not mean that you will not get a vehicle if you reserve at the last minute, but by planning ahead, you minimize the risk of ending up with a reservation that can not be completed, which represents 1% to 4% of attempted reservations.

Cancelling: Are there penalties for cancelling?
Except for the cost of the phone call, there is nothing to pay if you cancel at least two hours before the start of your reservation. See our Rules & Regulations (in PDF format) for further details.

Makes and models: What makes and models are available at Communauto?
Our cars are all Toyotas: either the Echo, the Yaris or the Matrix. If you want a different model, you can obtain one through our agreements with certain rental companies, namely Discount, Via Route, Enterprise and Budget. Communauto subscribers may take advantage of special rates with these companies.

Smoking: Do you have non-smoking vehicles?
It is forbidden to smoke in our vehicles.

Ratio: On average, how many users are there for each vehicle?
The ratio varies according to the month of year. In winter it can rise to 20 users per vehicle, and that ratio drops to about 15 in summer. Communauto always tries, as much as possible, to adjust supply to demand.