Gatineau, Que., police asking residents to report neighbours with out-of-province plates

Gatineau police are asking residents to report on neighbours as part of a crackdown on out-of-province licence plates. CTV’s Natalie van Rooy reports.

The Gatineau Police Service (SPVG) is asking residents to report neighbours who have had non-Quebec licence plates on their vehicles for more than three months.

Provincial law requires new residents to register their vehicles with the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) within three months to receive a Quebec plate. Failure to do so can result in a $200 fine.

In a news release Wednesday, Gatineau police called on residents to inform 3-1-1 about anyone who has had out-of-province licence plates for longer than 90 days. The reports can be made by phone or online starting in March, police said.

“The situation of Gatineau residents with licence plates from another province is a problem known to the SPVG,” police said in French. “In fact, it is working with the City of Gatineau, Revenu Québec and the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec to identify possible actions to reduce this problem.”

This comes as the City of Gatineau is adding a new vehicle registration tax in an effort to fund public transit.

Last year, Gatineau city council approved a new tax on the registration of passenger vehicles for Gatineau residents, effective Jan. 1, 2025. Each registered vehicle will be subject to a tax of $60 in 2025, and $90 per vehicle starting in 2026.

The vehicle registration tax to fund transit will be collected by the SAAQ, and it will apply to all automobiles, motor homes, SUVs and minivans, but not motorcycles, mopeds, and vehicles for institutional, professional and commercial use, according to the city.

The new $60 vehicle registration tax imposed by the City of Gatineau is in addition to a $30 fee that has been charged by the province since 1992.

Police said they would take action against residents with improper licence plates for “an indefinite period” once reports to 3-1-1 are received.

Maude Marquis-Bissonnette, Mayor of Gatineau told CTV News Ottawa Thursday the city welcomes the initiative, noting that it’s what the residents of the city have been asking for.

“In the last electoral campaign that happened last spring, there were a lot of citizens asking for enforcement of the Quebec laws ... precisely that people who are residents from Quebec must have, within 90 days, a Quebec licence plate instead, for instance, of an Ontario one,” Marquis-Bissonnette said."

“When it comes to public services, it’s important that everybody pay their share to make sure that we are able to continue offering services that are quality services, actually.

“We want to enforce this starting in March because there is a question of equity and it’s been requested by our citizens. So, we are showing that we are listening to that and enforcing that”

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Natalie van Rooy

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Josh Pringle