Province scrapping licence plate renewal fees, but still ‘business as usual’ for police

Waterloo Regional Police are emphasizing it will be 'business as usual' following a provincial announcement Tuesday to eliminate licence plate renewal fees and stickers in March.

“The activities of the WRPS and the traffic services branch within the WRPS is very much business as usual,” said Staff Sergeant Scott Griffiths, with the Traffic Services Unit.

He said drivers and vehicle owners still have a responsibility to keep vehicles up to date with the Ministry of Transportation, including proper plates and insurance, and the staff sergeant is clarifying this will not depend on licence stickers.

“The ability for us to confirm the information with the licence plate is done through our computer systems, so it's (licence stickers) more of a visual cue than it would be for an actual enforcement tool,” Griffiths said. 

However, he added not every regional police cruiser is currently equipped with Automated Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR).

“But, the announcement yesterday (Tuesday) discussed provision of additional resources for ALPR that we're awaiting information on,” Griffiths said.

There also isn't too much information yet on the rules before the new legislation is officially in place.

The staff sergeant said, “We will adapt whatever requirements we have to ensure that that compliance continues.”

Griffiths recommends drivers check with Service Ontario on what to do until changes are made.

He said police won't notice much of a change to enforcement and investigative activities.