The Ontario government is scraping licence plate renewal fees.
This morning, the government announced the change and that it will come into place on March 13th.
The requirement to have a licence plate sticker for passenger vehicles, light-duty trucks, motorcycles and mopeds will also be eliminated.
The government is introducing red tape legislation later today that would enable the province to refund eligible individual owners of vehicles for any licence plate renewal fees paid since March 2020.
Upon passage, vehicle owners will receive a cheque in the mail starting at the end of March and throughout the month of April.
To receive a refund cheque, vehicle owners who have moved recently will need to confirm that their address information on their vehicle permit or driver’s licence is up-to-date at Ontario.ca/AddressChange by March 7, 2022, and pay any outstanding fees, fines or tolls.
Under the proposal, renewal fees will also be eliminated for passenger, light duty commercial vehicles, motorcycles and mopeds that are owned by a company or business.
However, no refunds will be given for the period of March 2020 to March 2022 for these class of vehicles.
Vehicle owners will still be required to renew their licence plate every one or two years at no cost to confirm their automobile insurance is valid and pay any outstanding Highway 407 tolls and other municipal fines.
The government is working with partners to develop a new, more user-friendly process that will continue to validate automobile insurance requirements, support law enforcement efforts and collect municipal fines and unpaid Highway 407 tolls.
Renewal fees and requirements for licence plate stickers for heavy commercial vehicles and snowmobiles remain unchanged.