Selling a trailer in Ontario

What Ontario requires

• ✓A trailer is considered a separate vehicle from your car or truck, so it has its own registration.
• ✓You can only register it in person at a ServiceOntario centre.
• ✓Registration is one time: stickers are not needed because drivers only have to register them once, and the registration does not expire.
• ✓The cost to get a plate, permit and validation sticker is $72.

What the buyer brings

• ·The vehicle portion of the trailer permit, signed over by the seller
• ·The bill of sale
• ·Identification

Tax

The standard transfer process in Ontario

1. 1Purchase a Used Vehicle Information Package (UVIP) from ServiceOntario ($20). You are legally required to provide it to the buyer; failure carries a $140 fine (as of January 2026).
2. 2Optionally obtain a Safety Standards Certificate from a licensed inspection station ($80–$135). Without one, the buyer must get their own before plating the car.
3. 3Complete the bill of sale. Both parties keep a signed copy.
4. 4Sign the vehicle portion of the permit (the green ownership document) on the back.
5. 5Hand over: signed permit + bill of sale + UVIP + SSC (if obtained).
6. 6Remove your licence plates before the buyer drives away. Plates stay with you in Ontario.

Selling a boat with its trailer

Treat it as two transactions. The boat moves through Transport Canada, and the trailer moves through the provincial registry. The paperwork does not overlap.