Automatic licence plate renewals kick in July 1

Fran DeGouveia got pulled over for a minor traffic infraction last week, but she tells 680 NewsRadio that she was “thrown for a loop” when the officer also fined her for not having renewed her licence plate.

DeGouveia fully admits she didn’t renew it during her last birthday despite getting a reminder, but says she was under the impression she didn’t have to based on a recent announcement by Premier Doug Ford.

Ford said on February 13 that drivers in Ontario will soon be able to skip the annual registration of their licence plates

“It will be automatically re-registered so people won’t have to worry about that at all,” said Ford 

But the automatic renewals won’t start until July 1st of this year. Drivers, like DeGouveia, who don’t have their plate renewed before July 1 could face a $110 fine. 

“I thought it was absolved,” she said 

In 2022, the Ford government eliminated all fees associated with the annual registration of licence plates, but that led to hundreds of thousands of vehicles across the province sporting unregistered licence plates.

Ultimately the premier said the renewals would become automatic for drivers in good standing, meaning those who don’t have any outstanding tickets or fines.

Drivers are advised to make sure their licence plates are fully up-to-date ahead of the July 1 implementation of automatic renewals.