TORONTO, Ont. – Ontario’s Transportation Ministry has confirmed that it will expand its network of International Registra-tion Plan (IRP) licensing offices for handling licence applications and renewals.

In response to questions from the Ontario Trucking Association, the ministry has said it plans to ensure that 87 per cent of the carriers in southern Ontario will be located within 60 km of a prorate office.

While IRP officially takes effect Nov. 1, the service will expand early next year.

“From early September 2000 until March 2001, our Downsview IRP Transition Office will process carriers’ prorate applications,” the ministry says in a letter to the association.

But carriers “will not be required to visit Downsview to receive IRP/CAVR credentials. They can visit the Prorate Office of their choice to pay fees, show original documentation and receive credentials. We will also accept original documentation and payment via courier, and send credentials by return courier if the carrier prefers not to visit a Prorate Office.”

The ministry plans to open offices in Windsor, Kitchener-Waterloo, Barrie, Peterborough and Cornwall, while it’s also looking for “alternative means of delivering credentials to carriers, as well as examining ways to enhance service for fleet maintenance activities through an electronic service delivery network.”

Prorate offices are currently operated by the ministry in London, Hamilton, Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa, North Bay and Thunder Bay.

Ontario carriers can expect an instruction manual and application forms in the mail by mid-June if they are registered under the International Fuel Tax Agreement, while the ministry plans to hold a series of seminars on IRP in early September.

For more information, E-mail questions to irp@mto.gov.on.ca. n