A former Edmonton Transit System driving instructor has been charged with fraud for allegedly handing out driver improvement certificates to people who hadn't completed the necessary course.

Wayne Burnash, 61, is facing a charge of fraud over $5,000, Edmonton police said.

A city auditor's report released last week detailed how a driving instructor allegedly wrongfully issued 99 certificates to people trying to avoid licence suspensions or wanting cheaper insurance rates.

ETS has confirmed the employee has been fired.

The City of Edmonton is permitted to offer the professional driver improvement course to its own employees. ETS operators have to complete the course as part of their training.

In this case, the instructor allegedly used those powers to issue certificates between January 2015 and April 2018 to non-city employees,

The report said the people who obtained the certificates did it to avoid a licence suspension or to get cheaper insurance rates, or both.

A driver can get up to three demerit points wiped from their record if they take the improvement course from a driving school, with prices ranging from $120 to $300. In Alberta, a driver can accumulate 15 demerit points before their licence is suspended.

Edmonton police spokesperson Cheryl Voordenhout said some of the 99 recipients of the driver improvement certificates had completed the course while others had not.

There was no way to distinguish between the two groups, she said, adding that investigators are not following up with people who wrongfully received the certificates.

"The investigators didn't feel there was a public safety risk that would necessitate revoking the certificates from everyone," Voordenhout said.