Heads up! If you were overjoyed to hear that the Ontario government dropped licence plate renewal fees, you should know you can't immediately wipe your hands clean of all responsibilities when it comes to your licence plate. 

Mathias Rousseau, a Brampton resident, found out about this the hard way when he was recently slapped with a $495 ticket in Quebec for not renewing his Ontario licence plate.

It turns out that while all the licence sticker and renewal fees have now been officially lifted and refunds sent in the mail, you still need to actually renew your licence plate to confirm your car insurance is valid and pay any defaulted fees, fines or tolls.

"I didn't know that I had to still go through the process. They could have been more clearer. I thought it was no longer required because there was no longer a fee attached," Rousseau explained to CP24. 

Rousseau is planning to fight the ticket, his justification being that the Ontario government wasn't clear enough that licence plates still needed to be renewed amidst the recent changes for fees. 

Yeah as much as I hate this initiative, it did have a paper explaining you still had to renew. People don’t follow anything anymore, or inform themselves anymore, they saw a cheque and threw the rest away

— emma (@ergm33) May 12, 2022

To complicate things further, the province also stopped mailing paper renewal notices to people with expiring drivers' licences, prompting them to sign up for a digital reminder instead. 

If you live in Ontario, do yourself a favour and check the expiry of your health card, license plate and driver’s licence, and set yourself a reminder a month beforehand to renew them online. The province does NOT send you mailed notices anymore.

— Sean Carruthers (@globalhermit) May 10, 2022

Some people in Ontario are just as shocked as Rousseau, claiming the government has failed to properly communicate with its residents and suggesting licence renewal shouldn't be something they should have to worry about each year. 

There are no more stickers, but you still have to renew your license plate or face a $490 fine.
Cops in Quebec have been enforcing this for some reason. Apparently, they single out the Ontario plates.

— 🌻Stonefaced Jan has 2 thumbs and 3 shots!🌻💉💉💉 (@JanTheMan2010) May 7, 2022

For those wondering, you can renew your license plate at any Service Ontario location, online or by mail.