Vehicle Licence Plate and Registration

 

 

Residency Requirements for Registration

On July 17, 2006, residency requirements changed for vehicle registrations in Alberta.

If you are a new resident of Alberta, you must register your vehicle(s) and obtain an Alberta driver’s licence within 90 days of moving to the province, even if you travel outside Alberta during those 90 days.

If you are temporarily working in Alberta but are a legal resident of a jurisdiction outside Alberta, you may continue to use the valid registration and plates from your home jurisdiction up to a maximum of 183 days in a calendar year (January through December). However, you must obtain an Alberta registration if your vehicle has been in Alberta over the 183 day limit. You must also have valid insurance on the vehicle.

If you are visiting Alberta, you may use your valid registration and plates (with valid insurance) from your home jurisdiction, provided you do not take up residency in Alberta. However, if you do take up Alberta residency, you must obtain Alberta registration and plates within 90 days.

If you are staying in Alberta as a full time student and attending an accredited institution or you are working here as part of a co-op program of study, you may use your valid registration and licence plates from your home jurisdiction. You must also have valid insurance on the vehicle and the registration must contain your name (either exclusively or jointly with another individual(s)). You should also carry proof (letter) from the accredited institution verifying your full time student status for presentation to a law enforcement officer should it be required.

 The above rules apply to private (non-commercial) vehicles only.

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Veterans' Licence Plates

veterans' licence plate

UPDATE:  Veterans' Plates Program Expands
July 26, 2010
Currently serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces are now also eligible for veterans' licence plates.
Read the news release

The Government of Alberta introduced a special Veterans' Licence Plate in 2005 to honour the contributions of Alberta veterans.

Veterans' licence plates can be used on vehicles with passenger class registration, such as passenger cars, SUVs, station wagons, minivans, motor homes and light trucks. The plates are also available for farm vehicles with class 2 commercial registration.

Veterans who are eligible for the special licence plate have two payment options:

  1. They can pay just the $22.63 exchange fee (when the plate comes up for renewal on the regularly scheduled renewal date, eligible plate holders will then pay the full cost of their annual renewal)

  2. They can renew their vehicle registration ahead of their regularly scheduled renewal date and only pay the cost of their next annual vehicle registration (the $22.63 plate exchange fee will not be charged in the case of early registration renewal)

Eligible veterans can obtain the plates from their local registry agent. More information and application forms are available through the:

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Personalized Licence Plates

A personalized licence plate (also known as vanity plates) can have up to seven characters, either letters or numbers. Personalized plates can be issued for almost every registration class except Dealer, Antique or Disabled. Alberta Registries reserves the right to reject requests for personalized plates for any reason, which includes ethnic slurs, religious slurs or foul language.

To order a personalized plate, you must visit a registry agent office. Payment for the plate must be made when placing the order. You will be required to provide your driver's licence number. You will also be required to decide where the licence plate should be mailed.

The ordering process will take between six-to-eight weeks. For fee information, see registry agent's Product Catalogue.

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Parking Placards for Persons With Disabilities

Effective November 1, 2001

A parking placard and/or disabled licence plate enables those with the greatest needs to use specially designated parking facilities. The placards are issued to individuals who provide proof of eligibility under this program. An applicant requesting plates must either have the vehicle(s) registered in the name of the person with the disability or be a joint owner on the vehicle registration.

To apply for a placard, an application form (pdf): must be completed by your physician, physiotherapist or occupational therapist and submitted to a registry agent office.

To qualify, an individual must be unable to walk more than 50 metres.

There are three types of placards:

  • Blue placards, which can be issued to those with long-term disabilities and are valid for five years

  • Blue placards, which can be issued to those with Permanent disabilities that can be self-declared every five years without the medical personnel signature

  • Red placards, which can be issued to those with disabilities that are temporary in nature, but will affect them for a period of three to twelve months (Note: A visitor in need may use their valid (non-expired) parking placard from their home jurisdiction during their vacation or visit to Alberta.)

A visitor in need, without an existing placard, may apply for a temporary red placard for the duration of their visit. Visitors will be considered for a parking placard and should contact a registry agent for more information.

Additional information and program highlights are available on the Alberta Transportation website.

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Intransit Permit

To move an unregistered vehicle from one location to another in Canada, you must provide proof of ownership if the vehicle is being moved outside of Alberta, proof of valid insurance, and a description of the vehicle including the make, year and serial number. A time-limited permit may be issued to permit the movement of the vehicle without registration. For fee information, see registry agent's Product Catalogue. Permits are not valid outside of Canada.

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Vehicle Seizures

Under the Vehicle Seizure Program, drivers stopped by a peace officer and found to have their operator's licence suspended will have the vehicle they were driving seized and impounded for a period of 30 days. If the vehicle seizure involves the same suspended driver and owner within a three-year window, the seizure period is 60 days.

The Vehicle Seizure Program fact sheet (pdf) will give you some important information about the review process - please read this carefully before purchasing an Application for Hearing form from an Alberta registry agent.

More information on the Alberta Vehicle Seizure Program is available on the Transportation Safety Board website.

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Lost/Stolen Plates or Tabs (Year Stickers)

If you wish to declare your licence plates lost or stolen and require no replacement, you should report the loss to the police and visit a registry agent office to fill out a licence plate declaration form. To replace your lost or stolen plate, year sticker or registration, you will be required to provide your operator’s (drivers) licence or two pieces of identification as well provide your licence plate number to a Registry Agent and pay the required fee.

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Canceling a Registration

To cancel your licence plates and registration, you must visit a registry agent office. You will be required to surrender your registration, plates and stickers as well as provide identification verifying that you are the registrant. The prorated unused portion of the original registration fee (if any) will be refunded by mail minus a $9.45 cancellation fee. Clients are responsible for paying the $9.00 (+GST) agent service fee

If you move to another province and surrender your licence plate to the other jurisdiction, you may request in writing to a registry agent that your registration be cancelled and the refund (if any) be mailed to you. The $9.00 (+GST) agent service fee must be included with your request. The $9.45 cancellation fee will be deducted from your refund amount (if any) automatically. The other jurisdiction can provide you with written verification (please include with your request) that you have surrendered the plate. If they do not take the plate, you may send the plate and registration with your request and payment for cancellation to the registry agent.

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Transferring a Registration

To transfer your existing vehicle registration to another vehicle, you must visit a registry agent office. You will need to provide acceptable identification, proof of ownership for the vehicle you are transferring the registration to, and proof of valid insurance for the vehicle.

In addition to the above requirements, if the vehicle was purchased from outside Alberta, the vehicle must be physically in Alberta and have either an out-of-province inspection, a salvage inspection or a commercial vehicle inspection. Your registry agent will review the documentation and provide you with the appropriate inspection request form that you must take to a licenced inspection facility. Inspection facilities and other information about the vehicle inspection program can be found here.

Vehicles that are exempt from obtaining an inspection include off-highway vehicles, prorated vehicles and trailers. Other exemptions that may be available; dealer owned demonstrator vehicles, new vehicles from a jurisdiction within Canada (including Alberta), used vehicles from a jurisdiction within Canada (including Alberta) and new vehicles from a jurisdiction outside Canada. Each of these exemptions has their own requirements that must be met in order to qualify. Your registry agent can assist you in determining if you fall into one of these categories.

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Vehicle Information Report

A Vehicle Information Report (VIR) provides information about a vehicle’s registration history in Alberta. The report is produced using the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). A VIN is the unique serial number assigned to every vehicle by the manufacturer or the Insurance Bureau of Canada's assigned VIN program. An accurate and complete VIN must be provided to complete a VIR request.

The information contained in the VIR includes:

  • The date and time of the report

  • Vehicle description - year, make, model, style, colour, fuel type, odometer reading if available

  • Vehicle status - active, salvage, non-repairable, unsafe, rebuilt, etc.

  • Vehicle registration - date vehicle first entered on system, licence plate classification, registration history date and location (no personal information for any current or previous owner is shown, including licence plate numbers)

  • Lien information - provides the number of liens and other related instruments which are registered in the province of Alberta and associated with the serial number (detailed information, such as the secured party and the party to whom the money is owed, can be determined by purchasing a separate Personal Property lien search)

The VIR ONLY shows information from the Alberta Motor Vehicle System. It does not include any information from other provinces or countries where the vehicle may have been registered. To obtain these types of broader searches, please ask your registry agent about other service providers specializing in these types of reports.

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