Quebec vanity license plates are available for the first time, and they’re proving immensely popular.
The Quebec automobile insurance board’s (SAAQ) web site crashed on Fiday just an hour after the plates became available.
“As minister, there are so many people who stop me in the street”
The site was back up this morning at 7:30 but there is a banner at the top of the site cautioning users of the technical difficulties.
Mario Vaillancourt, a spokesman for the SAAQ, said that by 8 am, nearly 2,000 people had ordered new plates.
Transport Minister André Fortin announced the opportunity on July 3rd, sat it’s something Quebecers have been wanting for years.
“Quebecers will be able to personalize the license plate of their vehicle, motorcycle, scooter, motor home, snowmobile and even their off-road vehicle according to their passions, their hobbies and their personality,” he said.
The plate costs $250 (Cdn) up front, and an annual fee of $34.50 for renewal. A regular plate costs $11 per year to renew.
Other provinces across Canada, allow personalized plates that cost from $80 to $350 on top of regular registration fees. It’s estimated two per cent of drivers opt for vanity plates.
Vanity plates in British Columbia, supplied to CBC News on June 4th, 2018, show anglicized Punjabi slang glorifying drinking and driving in these photos. (Baltej Pannu/Facebook)
The change in Quebec had been promised since 2014, but only now has become an option.
On January 30th, 2014 then transport minister, Sylvain Gaudreault, announced that vanity plates would be available in September 2015.
“As minister, there are so many people who stop me in the street — no joke — to tell me, ‘When will we be able to have personalized plates like they do in Vermont, New York or Ontario?’ So I’m responding to that,” said Gaudreault.
It took almost three more years.
An investment of $3 million (Cdn) established the plan and the website, but the government says it will pay for itself when around 23,000 users register.
Limitations on what can be written in seven characters include:
- Lettering falsely suggesting the owner of the vehicle is, or is related to, a public authority.
- An expression of carelessness about road safety.
- An obscene or scandalous idea.
- The promotion of a criminal offence.
(With files from CBC and Radio Canada)
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