[Manitoba] 15 months car experience before class 1?

The plan was to complete the MELT course on a tourist visa (which is perfectly legal), then fly home and apply for jobs. However upon doing more research I saw that in order to enrol on a MELT course, you need to have 15 months of car experience https://commercialdriverhq.com/class-1-license-manitoba/

• hold a minimum Class 5 Intermediate Stage or Class 5 Authorized Instruction driver’s license. (You reach intermediate stage after holding your class 5 for 15 months).

So yes I will exchange my UK licence for a Manitoba class 5 licence and then enrol on the course but I wanted to double check if my UK licence experience would make me exempt from the 15 months experience requirement. After all driving in the UK we drive on the other side of the road, different road signs, a few different road laws / speed limits etc.

Then all of a sudden I'm going to be driving a truck carrying thousands of lbs of freight on the side I'm not used to and with signs I'm not used to... So you can see why MPI may have a bit of a problem with me having no actual Canadian experience.

My new Manitoba licence will be valid in the UK for 12 months so no need to exchange it back for my UK one as I should be able to secure a job offer, get all the paperwork done and start the job before the 12 month period is up.