Toronto, Ontario — As of July 1, licence plate renewal in Ontario is now both free and automatic with the provincial government updating the rules for passenger vehicles.
In a statement, Prabmeet Sarkaria, Ontario’s Minister of Transportation commented that the government “is making life more affordable and convenient for drivers.”
The ministry further claims that the new automatic renewal system will “save vehicle owners time, amounting to more than 900,000 hours every year.”
Last February, an estimated one million Ontario drivers forgot to renew their plates due to the provincial government having previously removed the $120 annual fee—$60 in Northern Ontario.
The automatic renewal system is specifically for passenger vehicles, light-duty trucks, motorcycles and mopeds. These vehicles will renew automatically 90 days before the vehicle’s plates are set to expire, so long as the vehicle continues to be covered by valid insurance and the owner doesn’t have any outstanding traffic fines or road toll bills.
The new program came into effect under the Get It Done Act, which received royal assent in February 2024. In addition to automatic renewals, the Act proposes amendments that would prohibit Ontario from placing new tolls on provincial highways and freeze the price of new or renewed driver’s licences, currently a $90 charge.
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