“Driving With Expired Plates”

I was in a mall parking lot this week when I saw the person pulling in beside me had plates (sticker) that expired five months ago. He was good about it when it pointed out the plates but it got me wondering. What's the fine if you get puller over with expired plates and will the police have your vehicle towed? I'm guessing towed as if they let you go, you're still drining on Ontario roads with expired plates.

There is no authority, per se, for police to tow for expired plates. However, they could just sit there and wait for you to try to drive off after getting your ticket and then stop you 5 ft later and give you another one for still driving with expired plates, effectively forcing you to have it towed off the road, but that's not really done in reality. Common practice is to just give you the ticket and let you drive off to get it taken care of. This is just an example of police using their discretion to not charge.

Thanks for the inside view. I heard there was a driver pulled over here in Ottawa last year on the 417 for speeding and was then found to have three year old expired plates. I'd guess the good will of the officer would be really tested in that case when faced with such a glaring omission.

Still, what's the fine for driving with expired plates?

BTW: I heard Ontario police will generally be lenient if you drive to the end of the month even if your birthday is the first of the month. But Quebec police have been known to troll through parking lots on the Quebec side looking for Ontario plates which are past the birthday. That info is several years old but was reported in the local press.

The fine for expired plates is $110. I don't think it matters if your birthday is at the beginning of the month or any other specific date, I think it matters more how long your plates have been expired for.

1 day or 1yr old expired, I still will issue the offence notice, which is $110. Over a year I tend to issue a summons, automatic court and crown can ask for a higher penalty.

Vehicle registered to a person the expiry is on the birthday of the owner

Vehicle registered to a company, the expiry is at the end of the month, which corresponds to that companies year end.