Personalized licence plates can be requested for passenger vehicles, non-commercial trucks, farm trucks, motorcycles, mopeds and motorhomes. Slogans for passenger vehicles and trucks may have up to seven characters, including hyphens or spaces. Slogans for motorcycles may have five characters including hyphens or spaces.
Personalized plates can be requested for standard “Friendly Manitoba” plates, for Bilingual “Bienvenue” plates and for plates in the Collector Vehicle Program.
Cost
The cost of the plates is $100 (plus GST) per vehicle. The cost to replace a personalized plate or to transfer an existing slogan to a new plate type (such as regular to Bilingual, or car to motorcycle) is $25 plus GST.
All applicable personalized licence-plate fees are nonrefundable. However, in the event you choose to cancel your plate, you will retain possession of it in case you wish to use it on a different vehicle. Personalized plate holders also retain the right to their slogan for the life of the current plate series. Renewal would be required in the event new plates are issued.
How to apply
To order personalized plates, use our application tool. Follow all instructions, print the completed application, sign it, and then submit it to MPI as outlined on the application tool.
Alternatively, you can complete a fillable PDF form. To submit: print and sign the completed form, and then either email a photo or scan to [email protected], mail or fax it to the address or number listed on the form, or bring it to an Autopac agent or MPI Service Centre.
If your application is approved
If your application is approved, your personalized licence plate will be mailed to you and your MPI account will be placed in arrears for the amount of the application fee.
You will be required to attend in person at an MPI Service Centre or Autopac agent to activate your plate. Detailed instructions on activating your plate will be included with your approved personalized licence plate.
Payment must be completed prior to plate activation and/or use.
Payment options for approved personalized plates are:
- Online: Paying online is a quick and convenient option to make a payment anytime with your VISA or MasterCard.
- With your financial institution: You can also pay online or by telephone through your financial institution – simply contact them to set up this service for you. Please use your customer number (found on your statement of account) as your account number. If you cannot locate your customer number, please contact an Autopac agent or an MPI Service Centre for assistance.
- In person: Cash, debit, or credit card payments can be made in-person at an MPI Service Centre or an Autopac agent.
If your application is not approved
You will receive notification if the application is not approved. MPI will not collect the application fee and will not place your MPI account in arrears in the amount of the application fee if your application is not approved.
All applicable personalized licence plate fees are non-refundable. In the event you choose to cancel your personalized licence plate, you’ll retain possession of the plate in case you wish to use it on a different vehicle.
Guidelines
MPI issues, maintains, and recalls PLPs on behalf of the Manitoba Government.
Licence plates, including PLPs are government property and do not belong to any person or organization.
The guidelines for the PLP program ensure all Manitobans feel safe, respected, and welcome on our roads.
Before you apply for a PLP, please read and understand the guidelines and the following information:
- MPI considers many factors when deciding to issue or recall a PLP, including known and potential meanings of the phrase or parts of it.
- The applicant’s intended meaning is not the deciding factor for approving or recalling a PLP.
- Prior approval of a PLP does not guarantee it will not be recalled. New information or changes in societal norms may make a previously acceptable PLP no longer acceptable.
- MPI has the right to reject a PLP application or recall an issued PLP, even if it follows the guidelines.
MPI will not approve PLP applications for slogans that have already been issued. Licence plates must be unique.
Slogans will be denied if they are considered:
- Profane, derogatory, abusive, vulgar, repulsive, offensive, or obscene.
- Sexually suggestive or provocative.
- Discriminatory, including messages that express contempt, ridicule or imply superiority of those characteristics protected by The Human Rights Code (Manitoba).
- Violent, bullying, illegal or criminal activity, including gang references or references to weaponry.
- Alcohol or drug related:
- Terms describing alcohol or other legal or illegal drugs, including brand names; reference to the use sale, effects, and/or consumption of drugs, alcohol, controlled substances, or paraphernalia used in the consumption thereof.
- Any slogans that promote impaired driving due to substances;
- Speed related, or promoting risky or unsafe driving behaviour:
- References to speed, speeding, other risky or unsafe driving behaviour or anything contrary to road safety, such as distracted driving, street racing, drifting, etc.;
- Political references, figures, dignitaries, or law enforcement officials, for example:
- Negative or derogatory message or meaning with respect to government or government entities;
- Falsely suggesting association with a public institution or law enforcement;
- Reference to public or well-known figures, including names of politicians, other dignitaries or law enforcement officials;
- Political opinion, connotations, slurs, affiliation, or organizations;
- Badge numbers of police officers;
- Infringement of intellectual property rights (such as trademarks).
- Please note it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure the slogan does not infringe upon intellectual property rights.
Unacceptable formats
Slogans cannot contain:
- hyphens at the beginning or end of slogan
- consecutive hyphens or spaces
- any symbols or punctuation
- a configuration used by Motor Vehicles Services for regular series licence plates
- a configuration that could be easily confused with an existing licence plate (look-a-like)
- numbers replacing singular letters in a word, for example:
- Number 2 and the letter Z
- Number 0 and the letter O
- Number 0 and the letter Q
- Number 8 and the letter B
- Number 4 and the letter A
Slogans cannot duplicate a regular plate series or be in a format that is considered unacceptable.
Below are combinations that are considered an unacceptable format. In the following examples, “A” denotes any alphabetic character and “9”denotes any numeric character (from 0 to 9).
|
A9 |
AA9 |
AAA9 |
9A |
9A9 |
Replacement plates
In the event your plates are lost, stolen or destroyed, you can order replacements for $25 plus GST using the replacement form. To submit the form: print and sign the completed form, and then either email a photo or scan to [email protected], mail or fax it to the address or number listed on the form, or bring it to an Autopac agent or MPI Service Centre.