Toronto, Ontario — When it comes to government-sanctioned modes of self-expression, it’s hard to beat a vanity plate, and while you may think you have already seen the most ridiculous ones out on the road, the fact is that the true gems lie in the discard pile.
Despite how it may seem from casual observance, the Ontario government does actually have stipulations for what is and isn’t acceptable to be printed on a vanity license plate in the province.
Setting aside specific measures to prevent duplicate plates from being issued, Ontario’s Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery also doesn’t seem to care for letter and number combinations that make reference to drugs, alcohol, sex, religion or human rights discrimination. Weird, right?
Obscene language and derogatory slang are also no-go’s for vanity plate submissions in Ontario, therefore ruling out such pieces of micro poetry as 2020.WTF, AREUDUMB, DAAAAMN, FOXSAKES and HECKIN.
References to public figures, politicians and law enforcement are also a point of concern for vanity plates, so unfortunately applicants for OHOPOPO, GRETAWHO, PREZIDNT, and VV.PUTIN may be forced to develop a personality instead.
The government also tends to prefer people not drive around with open threats of violence displayed under Ontario’s handsome logo, meaning the would-be owners of CROWDKLR, DOGFIGHT and ISELLGUN may need to find new ways to advertise.
Finally, anything that may commonly be considered difficult to read won’t make it through the application process; submissions like JU5TSOLD, KOBEEEEE, LE4F5, MR.FR35H, OLDSKOQL, SORRRRRY, and WAK4NDA, for example, did not make the cut.
You may yet see one of these very, very clever ideas prevail, however, as applicants are free to pursue a second review of their submission if they can make a case for it.
