International Registration Program
(IRP)

The International Registration Plan (IRP) is a U.S. based plan that allows for the distribution of registration fees for commercial motor vehicles traveling inter-jurisdictionally through member states and provinces. Ontario implemented IRP on April 1, 2001. All carriers traveling outside Ontario with vehicles having a gross weight in excess of 11,793 kg or 26,000 lbs. should register in IRP. Otherwise, you will have to purchase trip permits to travel outside Ontario.

The IRP provides blanket registration for truck and buses as an alternative to individual reciprocity agreements, and distributes truck and bus registration fees among member jurisdictions based on the number of kilometers carriers travel in other jurisdictions. Vehicles will have one license plate and one registration document or Cab Card which allows travel in all jurisdictions listed.

To register with IRP you will have to forward Form 1, 2, 3, & 4 to your local Prorate Office, or to the IRP Program Office. Once the Prorate Office receives an application, it will be processed and you will receive a fee notice. If during the registration period changes, such to adding, substituting, or deleting vehicles, or adding jurisdictions or changing weight groups etc. are required you must send in a revised application referred to as a supplement.

IRP fees are calculated using the "in-jurisdictional" distance divided into the total distance traveled by the fleet in all jurisdictions. For example, if a carrier travels 10,000 km in Ontario and 100,000 km in all other jurisdictions including Ontario, the prorate percentage for Ontario would be 10%. If the registration fee for Ontario for the vehicle weight were $1,650.00 annually, then the Ontario fee for a full year of IRP registration would be $165.00 per vehicle.

The IRP distance reporting period is July 1st to June 30th of the preceding year. Initially you will have to estimate mileage in jurisdictions that you wish to travel. However, once you have established your inter-jurisdictional travel you will be required to report actual miles as follows:

To accommodate Ontario’s membership in IRP, the previous proportional 8 % retail sales tax (RST) on multijurisdictional vehicles used in Ontario was replaced with an annual prorated sales tax know as “multijurisdictional tax”, which is collected at the time of registration. Owners of truck and buses operating outside of Ontario will pay the RST in annual installments over the life of the vehicle rather than up front, in a larger lump sum. The tax is applied to the percentage of Ontario travel as follows:

The MJV tax rates have been designed to take into account the purchase price of multijurisdictional vehicles, trailers, and the average costs for repair parts and labour for such vehicles and trailers, all of which may be purchased exempt from RST.