More About The Revised Personalized Licence Plate Program
Ministry of Transportation
In fall 2008, the Ministry of Transportation commissioned a panel review of Ontario's Personalized Licence Plate program. The panel was asked to provide suggestions on ways to improve the program and the criteria used to screen personalized licence plate applications.
Based on these recommendations, the ministry plans to make changes to its personalized licence plate application criteria such as:
- Allowing the use of religious titles on personalized licence plates
- Ensuring a common sense approach to assessing personalized licence plate applications, i.e., considering the meaning of the plate as a whole, rather than focusing on individual words
- Considering new ways of using language - such as text-messaging vernacular - when determining the meaning of a personalized licence plate message.
Other changes include:
- Making more detailed information about the criteria used to assess personalized licence plates available to assist applicants
- Grandfathering all existing personalized licence plates whenever plates are renewed or replaced by the original licence plate holder.
- Allowing personalized licence plate holders to participate in the review of their personalized plate if the ministry receives a complaint about their plate after it has been issued.
- Ensuring that the members of the committee that reviews licence plate applications are from more diverse backgrounds.
The new, updated Personalized Licence Plate program will be in force later this spring.
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