Gatineau police receive 2,437 calls about non-Quebec license plates in 2025

The City of Gatineau, Que., received more than 2,400 complaints and issued about 100 tickets for out-of-province license plates last year after asking people to call about residents taking too long to register their vehicles in Quebec.

In February 2025, city and police officials asked people to submit a report to 311 when someone still has an out-of-province license plate after living in the province for more than 90 days — the cutoff for residents to register their vehicle.

Officials said people who keep non-Quebec plates are avoiding the vehicle registration tax, which rose from $90 to $120 as of Jan. 1.

Part of that tax goes toward public transit, which is why Gatineau's Société de transport de l'Outaouais (STO) was pushing for this kind of campaign.

Gatineau is across the Ottawa River from Ontario and a significant number of people live in one province and work in the other.

Early rush

Most of the 2,437 complaints to 311 came in the first several weeks after that February request, according to data from Gatineau police.

That includes 867 reports in March, or nearly 30 a day, then 368 in April. Those numbers dropped as the year went on.

"People complied … so there were fewer and fewer [reports]," said police spokesperson Patrick Kenney.

Gatineau police said last year it issued about 100 tickets, each worth $336.

Some of the reasons complaints didn't result in a ticket included a lack of information, someone having a legitimate reason to still have a non-Quebec plate or a repeat complaint against the same vehicle owner, police said.