Canadians heading to Florida got a big shock Thursday when they were told they wouldn’t be allowed to drive in the state unless they had an international driving permit.

Bob McIlwraith and his wife were on their way to Winnipeg’s airport Thursday when they found out they would not be able to drive a car once they got there.

So McIlwraith turned the car around and headed to a CAA Manitoba office — the only place in the city where the permits are sold.

“I’m waiting in line for an international driver’s licence that 20 minutes ago I didn’t know I needed,” said McIlwraith.

The CAA office was filled with travellers looking to get one of the permits on Thursday.

For many of them, it was a frustrating race against time.

McIlwraith was number 76 in line when he had just an hour and a half to catch his flight to Florida.

McIlwraith made his flight, but CBC learned late Thursday afternoon,even if they hadn’t had the permit, Florida police have agreed not to issue tickets to Canadians without the special driving permits.

CAA representatives said late Thursday Florida’s government announced they won’t enforce the new law for Canadians, at least for now.

It still remains unclear if that will apply to all 400 of the law enforcement agencies that exist in Florida.

Winnipegger Steve Klassen was similarly caught off guard when he heard the news.

“I heard about this half an hour ago. My sister called me and told me,” said Klassen.

Tim Scott of CAA Manitoba said the new rules were surprising to them as well.

“[The] last 48 hours this came to light,” said Scott.

The new law has been in place in Florida since January, but officials failed to notify Canada.

The move was motivated by an increasing number of licences showing up in the state that were not in English.

Police in the state want a standardized licence in English.

“They didn’t even think to exempt Canada, which is an English-speaking country,” said Liz Peters of CAA Manitoba.

So CAA spent the afternoon in a mad dash to prepare travellers. The process required a form, a photo and a special typewriter to create the permit. It translates the license into 10 different languages.

Canadians already in Florida were worried about what it would mean for them.

Peters said they could call CAA and mail out the permits.

For more updates on what Florida's government will require from Canadian drivers going forward, visit CAA's website.