Ontario to Scrap Licence Plate Renewal, Making It ‘Automatic’

An Ontario provincial licence plate with a renewal sticker is shown in Mississauga, Ont., on Feb. 22, 2022. The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette

Ontario vehicle owners will soon be able to skip the yearly registration of their licence plates as the province looks to automate the process.

Premier Doug Ford made the announcement at a Feb. 13 media conference.

“We are getting rid of that totally. We did the first step, getting rid of the sticker. Now we’re getting rid of the re-registration,” he said. “It'll be automatically re-registered so people won’t have to worry about that.”

Mr. Ford did not indicate when the new process would be in place, but said it would happen “extremely soon.”

The announcement follows a Toronto Star report that indicated there are more than one million vehicles in the province with expired licence plates.

In Ontario, vehicle owners can be fined as much as $1,000 by police if they are caught driving with expired plates.

Premier Ford scrapped the $120 annual renewal fee in 2022 but drivers are still required to update their plates.

Sergeant Kerry Schmidt of the OPP Highway Safety Division said Ontarians no longer receive annual renewal notices in the mail from the province’s Ministry of Transportation.

“It may not cost anything, but you are still required to go online and renew your registration,” Sgt. Schmidt said in a 2022 video posted on social media.

Currently, drivers must visit either the provincial government’s website or a Service Ontario office to re-register their licence plates before they expire, which is usually during their birthday month. To renew, drivers must have their licence plate number, vehicle permit, and insurance policy number, as well as their vehicle odometer reading.

Residents can sign up for digital reminders to have alerts sent to them via email, text message, or phone call.

The exemption from renewal fees applies only to passenger vehicles, light commercial trucks, motorcycles, and mopeds. Heavy commercial vehicles weighing over 3,000 kilograms and snowmobiles still need to pay for plates.

The government said it will provide a refund for licence plate stickers to individuals for fees paid between March 2020 and March 2022. The refund cheques will be provided until March 13.

A recent report shows Canadians pay an average of $1,387 each month for vehicle costs, which includes insurance, gasoline, depreciation, and maintenance. The report authors also included $79 a month for licence costs.

Jennifer Cowan contributed to this report.