Hundreds of Ottawa motorists driving with expired licences

Police in Ottawa say every day they are catching drivers with expired licences. (Dylan Dyson/ CTV News Ottawa)

Police in Ottawa say every day they are catching drivers with expired licences.

“It’s happening dozens of times a day, and that’s not an exaggeration. Our ALPR cameras are picking up unlicensed drivers,” Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) spokesperson Const. Michael Fathi told CTV News Ottawa Wednesday.

Fathi says the main reason so many motorists are driving with expired licences is because they are completely unaware.

The province of Ontario said in November 2021 that it would be ending mailed renewal notices to drivers in an effort to save millions of dollars.

“Probably one of the last things that they’re looking at is the expiry date of their driver’s licence,” said Fathi.

“So, when we stop them, most of the time their driver’s licence is expired and their health card is expired.”

OPP in Ottawa say these drivers are being caught on Highway 416, Highway 417, and Highway 7.

Fathi tells CTV News that while attending to a disabled vehicle on Highway 417 on Wednesday, 17 unlicensed drivers were caught by his cruiser’s licence plate reader camera in the span of an hour.

The fee to renew a driver’s licence in Ontario is $90. The fine for being caught driving with an expired licence is much higher.

“The ticket is $325 for driving with an expired licence,” explained Fathi.

“What I tend to do and some of the other officers, because we know that times are tough, we still have a job to do, but we can use our discretion. So, there is a lesser fine of $110 for failing to surrender a driver’s license. So, a lot of us are using our discretion in issuing that ticket for $110 instead of $325.”

While the province has ended the paper reminders for licence renewals, drivers can sign up online at Service Ontario, to receive reminders via email, text message, and phone call.