● Asking the Ontario Government About their Licence Plates

Ameer Shash Contributor

Embossed blue letters, a seven-digit, three-letter format, and a simple template were what Ontario used for its previous-issue licence plates from 1997 until 2020 when the Ford Government announced plans to redesign the plates entirely. The newly-conceived licence plates received criticism as they could not be seen at night, even when illuminated by vehicular headlights — prompting further concern of Premier Ford’s competency and priorities. The media swarmed the Premier with questions and reported stories throughout 2020 about the plate fiasco. This later led the Ford Government to recall the faulty plates, branded with the slogans “Open For Business” and “A Place to Grow”, a far cry from its decades-long slogan “Yours to Discover.” As of late 2021, the old “Yours to Discover” plates are back in circulation at ServiceOntario centres. The following are questions asked to the Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services (MSGCS). Ameer: Given Ontario’s temporary stoppage of licence plates in the whiteon-blue (“A Place to Grow”) design, will the prior white-on-blue (“Yours to Discover”) plates remain in circulation, or will they redesign these plates with new graphics sometime in the future? The Ministry: After thorough testing by law enforcement and other key stakeholders, alongside improvements in durability of the “Yours to Discover” plates, we decided that it was in the best interest of Ontarians to not move forward with the redesign of Ontario’s licence plate due to visibility concerns. Ameer: How will the province ensure that defective licence plates are exhausted from circulation and reused in a way that does not cause environmental harm?

The Ministry: All returned plates are recycled by Service Ontario. Ameer: What are the financial implications of manufacturing new plates for Ontarians? Are there projections or numbers that you are able to share? The Ministry: The current Trilcor cost to manufacture passenger licence plates is $3.60 per set. Ameer: From the raw material until its finished product, how long does it take to manufacture a licence plate? The Ministry: Three days. Ameer: When was the first date or month that A-series and B-series plates came into circulation? The Ministry: The A series passenger plates were issued starting in 1997. Manufacturing of the B-series passenger plate began in 2006. The C-series started in July 2016. It takes roughly 10-13 years to do a complete series of plates. We can estimate that we have roughly another 4-5 years of production for the C-series. Each series roughly encompasses 11,000,000 plates. Ameer: How many plates are manufactured daily at Trilcor? The Ministry: Approximately 6,000-8,000 pairs of plates are manufactured at Trilcor daily.

Photo par Ameer Shash