The Canadian province of Ontario will no longer require vehicles owners to pay to renew their license plate stickers. Drivers who paid to renew their stickers since March 2020 will be issued refunds.
Ontario drivers, like those in many other jurisdictions, must renew their license plates every year (or two, depending on how much they were willing to pay) to make sure that their insurance was up to date.
Renewal fees for passenger vehicles are $120 CAD ($94 USD at current exchange rates) in the south of the province and $60 ($47 USD) in the much less densely populated northern part of the province. Now, though, all owners of passenger vehicles, light-duty trucks, motorcycles, and mopeds – but not for heavy commercial vehicles or snowmobiles – will no longer have to pay to renew their license plates.
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Premier Doug Ford said at a press conference that the move will benefit more than 7.5 million vehicle owners in the province, reports the CBC. The cuts will cost the province $1.1 billion ($860 million USD) in lost revenue as the province faces a post-pandemic deficit ranging between $16 to $20.5 billion ($12.5 to $16 billion USD), reports CTV News.
Ford, though, who is facing an election in less than three months, said that the savings will add up for Ontarians.
Vehicle owners will still have to renew their license plate stickers every year or two but won’t have to pay a fee to do so. Owners who renewed after March 2020, in which time a pandemic-related pause was introduced and ended, will be able to get a refund provided they have an up-to-date driver’s license and have paid all outstanding fees, fines, or tolls. Business owners, though, will not be eligible for a refund.
