Registering Your Car in Ontario

Look at those Ontario plates!

Our experience registering our car in Ontario wasn't the best part of our move, in fact it was so painful it deserved a picture.  Since we were moving to Toronto on work permits (temporary) we did not have to technically import the car (thank goodness!), though we will have to when we become permanent residents.  When we drove the car into Canada, we had to stop at customs at the border and they gave us a form showing we brought the car with us, which started the 45 day period to get the car registered in Ontario.


In order to register the car we needed four things:  proof of insurance, original title, and proof of passing safety and emissions tests.

1. Proof of Insurance:  We got car insurance through State Farm.  Your company will know the requirements but be sure you are covered for the Ontario requirements.  Ours was also a little tricky because we did not have Ontario driver licenses yet which seemed to really confuse State Farm. 
2. Emissions Test:  We had this done at Canadian Tire.  The emissions test cost $35, and the car passed the first time.
3. Safety Test:  For the safety test, they look at many things including brakes, tires, lights, windshield – on and on.  The safety test cost $100 at Canadian Tire (I've heard you can get it for less elsewhere), and unfortunately we didn’t fare quite as well on this one.  We have side lights on our car and one was not working.  I’m not sure what purpose these lights serve, but for whatever reason we had to have it fixed.  I was hoping it was just a bulb, but it wasn’t that simple.  Also, we had a chip in the windshield.  They don’t allow any chips or cracks – so again to the dealer to hopefully have the chip filled, but unfortunately we ended up needing a new windshield.  We had 8 days (I think) to get the repairs done or would have had to pay for a whole new safety test.  Once the repairs were complete, Canadian Tire certified our car, and we had 28 days to get the car registered before the certificate became invalid. 
4. Original Title:  This shouldn’t be an issue for most people, but we bought the car about 5 weeks before we moved from my sister and brother-in-law so we were still waiting for the official title to arrive (and as luck would have it MN was running behind in issuing titles) as the 45 day deadline approached.  But, we received it just in time.

Once we had all of our documentation, we took it to Service Ontario.  After waiting our turn, we paid $20 for plates, $74 for registration, and since we live in Toronto proper another $60 personal vehicle tax (note with the new mayor this fee has gone away and we got a refund of this amount of money) - and we left there with plates that are finally on our car! The whole process felt like another bureaucratic run-around for the government to make money (by fees) and support the local economy (tests and needless repairs).  At least we are set now(until we become permanent residents)!