Ford announces elimination of licence plate stickers in March

The Ford government is eliminating licence plate renewal fees and stickers.

Premier Doug Ford made the announcement in Richmond Hill on Tuesday morning. The move will take effect on March 13.

“We are eliminating licence plate renewal fees and scrapping the requirement to have licence plate stickers for passenger vehicle, light-duty trucks, motorcycles and mopeds,” Ford said.

“On top of that we are going to refund what you paid to renew your stickers for the past two years.”

Premier Ford makes it official. Drivers will no longer need to buy a license plate sticker, & those that have bought one over the past two years will get a refund. Checks will be sent out by the end of April (just in time for the election) CityNews had previously reported this.

— Richard Southern (@RichardCityNews) February 22, 2022

The government is introducing red tape legislation later that will allow the province to refund eligible vehicle owners for any licence plate renewal fees paid since March 2020.

The move will save drivers $120 a year and will be one of the first new bills presented as the legislature returns this week.

Once the legislation is passed, vehicle owners will receive a cheque in the mail beginning at the end of March and throughout the month of April.

To ensure a refund cheque, the province says vehicle owners who have recently moved will need to confirm their correct address on their vehicle permit or driver’s licence by March 7 and have all driving fines or fees paid off.

The annual renewal process will remain, but drivers will not incur new charges.

It was confirmed in November 2021 that the Ford government would be removing paper renewal notices and transitioning to a more digitally-convenient process. This includes adjusting the renewal notification process for driver’s licences, licence plate stickers, and health cards.

The government said the move would save up to $29 million in postage and mailing costs over five years as funds will be re-invested into critical programs, such as education.

In the summer of 2020, Premier Ford’s government scrapped a redesign of Ontario’s licence plates, returning to the old, white-and-blue “Yours to Discover” version.

The blue licence plates that the Progressive Conservative government rolled out at the time using a slogan of “A Place to Grow” were pulled after they were widely denounced by local police officers and members of the public after people said the plates were impossible to read in the dark.

The province said about 145,000 of the blue plates were produced.

— With files from CityNews reporters Richard Southern and Lucas Casaletto