A Peterborough man is facing a stack of provincial offences after police say he tried to pass off paper licence plates—secured with a plastic sleeve and packing tape—as the real thing.
Traffic Services officers pulled the 45‑year‑old driver over around 10:15 a.m. on Jan. 10, in the Romaine Street and Park Street area. Police say the stop was triggered when the vehicle’s licence plate was found to be registered to a completely different car in Mississauga.
That was the first red flag.
A closer look revealed the second: the plates weren’t plates at all. According to investigators, the driver had fashioned homemade paper plates, slipped them into a plastic cover, and taped them onto the vehicle.
The driver is now facing several charges, including using a plate not authorized for the vehicle, using a plate not in accordance with the act, failing to apply for a permit upon becoming an owner, and operating a motor vehicle on a highway without insurance.
The man has been given a court date of March 23, 2026.
While police didn’t comment on the paper plates’ craftsmanship, they noted that improvised tags—no matter how neatly laminated—don’t meet Ontario’s legal requirements.