The 6 Nations Driving School in Burns Lake will soon be opening up its services for purchase to all residents.
Currently, the driving school operates to provide subsidized training for Indigenous residents.
According to driving instructor Amber Poffenroth, there is currently not enough drivers training in the community.
She added that there is currently one other driver’s instructor in Burns Lake so people are having to travel to either Prince George or Smithers.
Poffenroth said the school has seen a high demand for people looking for driving lessons.
“We’ve had quite a few inquiries since setting up the driving school with the funding for Indigenous. Initially we always knew that we would eventually be offering it to everybody but we were just trying to focus on the remote communities and First Nation communities,” she said.
Poffenroth added the decision to keep it as a focus was because residents on reserve who have a driver’s license are really low.
She also said it’s important because it can be difficult to get around in Northern communities without a vehicle.
“We don’t have an established transit system and what they do have is just so few and far between, you have people that are having to pay to get rides to Town to get essential items, like groceries or medication, it’s a lot harder to be up here and not have a license,” Poffenroth said.
She added that she is feeling excited to start offering these services to the entire community.
The driving school currently has a tentative start date of July 1.