Alberta license plate. (Supplied by AMA)

By David Opinko

Province to eliminate license plate expiry stickers in 2021

Dec 7, 2020 | 10:31 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – “Nobody’s going to be forced to change their plates. If you have your plate, you can keep your plate. When these reflective plates become available next year, it’s not going to cost any more money than the current plates.”

Minister of Service Alberta Nate Glubish has announced a couple of key changes to driver’s license plates and the attached stickers.

Starting January 1, 2021, drivers in Alberta will no longer need to have expiry stickers on their plates.

Glubish says, due to advances in technology, stickers marking the month and year of registration, as well as stickers for fleet vehicles and permanent trailers, will no longer be issued in 2021.

Stickers will still be required for farm vehicles and prorated commercial vehicles participating in the International Registration Plan.

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“Alberta’s government has been looking for ways to improve and modernize the delivery of registry services for Albertans,” says Glubish. “By moving to reflective licence plates, expiry stickers become redundant and outdated. This common-sense change cuts red tape, aligns Alberta with other Canadian provinces, and saves taxpayers money.”

Instead, the province will transition to “high-definition reflective license plates” in fall 2021.

Glubish tells LNN that a big part of why they made this change is for security reasons.

The HD plates can be more easily scanned by automated license plate readers, which will assist law enforcement in validating license plate registration at the roadside.

He says some people will steal and reproduce license plate stickers to use them for fraudulent purposes.

“Registry agents support this next step to modernizing the delivery of registry services. We applaud Minister Glubish for taking the initiative to make changes that will benefit Albertans and cut red tape,” says CEO of the Association of Alberta Registry Agents Rikki McBride.

Currently, more than 5.5-million vehicles are registered in Alberta.

The government spends around $1.2-million annually to print, ship, or store expiry stickers for license plates. Glubish claims the government will be able to save approximately this amount of money every year.