Renewed brand and visual identity to be delivered at no cost to taxpayers

This morning Ontario’s Government for the People introduced the updated personal and commercial licence plates along with a new driver’s licence design in Mississauga East-Cooksville. The new changes reflect a renewed government promise to put people first in everything it does. The licence plate and driver’s licence
renewal process will enhance the quality, design and production of both important products while saving taxpayers millions of dollars each year.

“I am so happy that our government for the people is keeping its promises. Today we announced this exciting new change in my riding of Mississauga East-Cooksville. We are renewing the licence plate and driver’s licence because it represents how we are renewing our entire approach to government, and ensuring we are putting people first,”
said Kaleed Rasheed Member of Provincial Parliament for Mississauga East-Cooksville.

“Our government is embracing change because we recognize that the old established ways of working are no longer good enough.”

Starting February 1, 2020, all licence plates issued will be of the new plate design and Ontarians will also be able to voluntarily purchase a new licence plate featuring one of two optimistic slogans. Ontario Passenger Plates will feature the tagline “A Place to Grow” harkening to Ontario’s unofficial ‘A Place to Stand, a Place to Grow’ anthem first
debuted at Expo ’67. Ontario Commercial Plates will feature the slogan ‘Open for Business’ which reflects the province’s renewed commitment to economic growth and job creation across the province.

“Ontario’s new passenger and commercial licence plates represent what good government is all about,” said Walker. “We are putting people back at the centre of every decision; making Ontario a business-friendly and pro-jobs province; and protecting what matters most so we can ensure Ontario is a place to grow: a place to grow your family, a place to grow your business, and a place to grow your community.”

The new design of Ontario driver’s licences, which includes the new Ontario logo, will be available in the fall. The government is also ensuring that police have the tools they need to keep roads and communities safe by improving the quality of Ontario’s licence plates and keeping both the front and rear licence plates on vehicles.

“The driver’s licence is a tangible touchpoint between the citizen and the government of Ontario. With a new brand we have taken this as an opportunity to showcase the new logo to drivers across Ontario,” said Jeff Yurek, Minister of Transportation. “By February 1, 2020, you can expect to start seeing these new technologies and designs
on both the front and rear plates of vehicles across Ontario.”

The new licence plates and driver’s licence will also feature a renewed version of Ontario’s classic trillium logo, part of a refreshed brand identity that will be implemented across the entire government. The logo is accompanied by a clear and succinct articulation of a simple unifying principle: that the Ontario government is “Working for
You.”

The government has delivered a new visual identity directive across the entire public sector that will explicitly prohibit the spending of taxpayer dollars on new logos or other visual identifiers going forward. Since 2011, the ministries and agencies of the Ontario government wasted more than $2 million on visual identity work that only served to fragment the Ontario government’s brand and confuse the public.

“We promised to work hard for you and provide you with a better, more people-focused government,” said Peter Bethlenfalvy, President of the Treasury Board. “By making this new brand and visual identity a government-wide standard – we are also saving taxpayers’ money by putting a stop to a wasteful practice that we saw taking place
across government.”

“While the new trillium logo looks like a classic – it has also been specifically designed to meet the highest standards of accessibility, while remaining digitally friendly and adaptable across all platforms and in both languages,” said Bethlenfalvy.

Existing visual identifiers will be retired and replaced by variations of a flexible and adaptable brand system based on the new trillium. This will be done in a “no-waste” manner to allow different bodies to exhaust their pre-existing brand collateral before adopting the new standard. Revenue-generating government bodies with existing brand
identities will be managed on a case-by-case basis.