Fined for having an expired plate sticker? Check your ticket

Government extended validity of some licences after DriveTest centres closed

Bummed out over that $110 ticket you were issued for having an expired sticker on your licence plate? Don’t be too quick to pay.

At least, not if your plate sticker expired after March 1.

Drivers across Ontario have complained about being ticketed, even though the Ontario government extended the validity of those and some other licences after COVID-19 forced DriveTest centres to close before reopening with limited service.

In mid-March the province issued an emergency order that, among other things, temporarily granted extensions to plate stickers that expired after March 1.

Extensions were also granted to driver’s licences, Ontario health cards, Ontario photo cards and accessible parking permits that expired after March 1.

A full list is at ontario.ca/page/ex

tended-validation-periods.

Niagara Regional Police officers were advised not to issue tickets for provincial offences covered under

the government’s emergency order, but in a few cases it did happen, said

Const. Phil Gavin.

He couldn’t say how many had been issued locally.

A month ago, York Regional Police admitted 58 such tickets had been handed out erroneously.

Gavin said for anyone found with a plate sticker or licence that expired before March 1 — the date the order took effect —

“they could still get a ticket for that expiry that should have been addressed prior to the emergency order.”

He said in Niagara “there were some instances where people did receive tickets where the expiration date was after the emergency order took place.”

“But in those cases, people can contact the courts directly to have those tickets addressed.”

Anyone whose sticker or licence expired after March 1 and has already paid a fine, or who

was ticketed despite the renewal-date extension, can contact the Niagara provincial offences courthouse at 905-687-6590 or by email at poadisclosure@niagararegion.ca.

A spokesperson for Niagara Region, which operates the court, said expiry dates will be considered when cases are reviewed.

Gord Howard is a St. Catharinesbased reporter with the Standard. Reach him via email: gord.howard@niagaradailies.com

JULIE JOCSAK TORSTAR Drivers with licence plate stickers that expired after March 1 this year are exempt from being ticketed, under a temporary renewal extension ordered by the provincial government.