Ontario Licence Plate Sticker Fees Are Officially Over & Here's How You Can Get A Refund

Drivers in the province are facing a lot of changes on the road related to highways and fees this year.

On top of cutting transit fees for some Ontarians, the province is scrapping licence plate sticker fees and is even giving drivers some money back.

As of Sunday, March 13, the Ontario government ditched the need for certain vehicles to have licence plate stickers and took away the licence plate renewal fee altogether.

Here's what that means for drivers

Passenger vehicles, light-duty trucks, motorcycles and mopeds won't get issued a licence plate sticker from ServiceOntario anymore.

According to the Ontario government website, owners of light commercial and passenger vehicles will be saving some cash, but refunds will depend on when you last renewed and how much you paid for the renewal.

Under the sticker system, drivers in northern Ontario paid $60 per year, while those in southern Ontario paid $120 per year. Drivers are eligible for a refund on any renewal fees they paid for the period of March 1, 2020, or later.

Heavy commercial vehicles and snowmobiles won't be able to cash in on this refund. Vehicles registered to a business or a company are also not eligible.

How drivers can get their money back

Ontarians will get their refunds in the form of a cheque in the mail from the government, but there are some boxes you need to check off in order to get some cash back.

If your address is up to date and you paid some licence plate sticker renewal fees for the period between March 1, 2020, and March 12, 2022, for a moped, motorcycle, light-duty truck or individually owned passenger vehicle, then you can qualify.

If you don't have any outstanding fees, tolls or fines, then you'll get a cheque in the mail sometime from the end of March to the end of April.

Make sure the address on your driver's licence is up to date, since that's where they'll be sending your cheque. If it's not, the government warns that you should change your address on the ServiceOntario website right away.

If you're running a bit late and change your address or pay your fines after March 7, the government says you should receive your cheque in the summer or fall.

However, the government also wants people to beware of scammers out there who claim to offer refunds for licence plate stickers.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.