Ontario's move of IRP plating to ServiceOntario left carriers waiting for weeks

In April 2025, the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) said it was working with the Ministry of Transportation and ServiceOntario to stabilize the province's International Registration Plan (IRP) program after weeks of reported processing delays.

The IRP lets trucks travel between participating provinces and U.S. states on one plate and one registration document. Ontario moved administration of the program to ServiceOntario effective March 3, 2025. Before the change, a local IRP office typically handled new registrations and renewals within three to five business days, according to compliance consultant Colleen Breault of CB Safety Services.

The OTA's workaround

• The OTA said carrier members felt the response so far needed much improvement.
• It advised fleets with time-sensitive applications to use a specific subject line, "URGENT: IRP Account #(number), Transaction Type", and to describe the urgency and financial impact in the email, so applications could be triaged.
• It said fleets using that format with complete applications were having success, and that it would stay engaged daily until the system stabilized.

What carriers described

In May, CBC News reported on Windsor-area carriers hit by the delays. One owner-operator said he had waited for plates since late February and lost at least $20,000 in work. The owner of Etlas Freight said seven of nine new trucks were still unregistered after more than 60 days, and that he lost two crews of drivers while waiting. Breault said processing had gone from a few days to several weeks.

The province extended plates expiring between March 31 and May 31 to June 30. A spokesperson for Ontario minister Stephen Crawford said the move was part of an effort to modernize services, and that ServiceOntario was prioritizing urgent requests from carriers.