A one-time registration system for off-road vehicles will be launched on Nov. 17, the provincial government said Friday.
The system, which will be integrated into the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia's existing vehicle registry, will become mandatory on June 1, 2015 and will apply to snowmobiles as well as quadrunners, dirt bikes, side-by-sides and other forms of motorized off-road travel on Crown land.
The combined cost of the number plate and registration fee is $48. All of the 900-plus ICBC insurance brokers in the province will accept registrations.
Registering early will have some advantages. If an ORV is stolen, a registered vehicle can more easily be tracked back to the owner.
Provided they are also insured, registered ORV's will also have greater access to highways when changes to Motor Vehicle Act regulations also come into effect on Nov. 17. Starting that day, they will be able to:
- Cross a highway without having to obtain an operation permit if the crossing is controlled by a stop sign or traffic light.
- Cross a highway where local police authorize through an operation permit.
- Load or unload in a parking lot without an operation permit.
- Obtain an operation permit with an extended term of up to two years.
To demonstrate legal ownership of the vehicle, one or more of the following is required:
- A new vehicle information statement or a certificate of origin if purchased new, but never registered previously.
- A bill of sale or other document acceptable as a bill of sale, such as a transfer tax form (APV9T) signed by seller. Transfer tax forms are available from any Autoplan broker.
- A completed B. C. consumer taxation branch gift of vehicle form (FIN 319)
- For ORVs imported from the U.S., a title certificate; Form 1 or B15 accounting cocument.
- For ORVs imported into B.C. from another Canadian jurisdiction, the previous registration documents.
- In the absence of the above, a sworn statutory declaration (MV1484) will be required with information about how the applicant came into possession of the off road vehicle and attempts to get the one or more of the other documentation as described above.
