International Registration Plan (IRP)

Buyers of trucking companies that cross provincial lines meet the IRP when they review plates and registrations. Alberta describes it as a cooperative agreement providing for payment of commercial licence fees based on total distance operated in all jurisdictions. Newfoundland and Labrador adds that a carrier registers with one jurisdiction, its home base, and receives prorated plates that let it travel through all IRP member jurisdictions.

How it works

Alberta says IRP jurisdictions have agreed that the base jurisdiction collects the fees for all jurisdictions at one time, and that each vehicle must operate with the intention to travel in more than one member jurisdiction during the registration period to qualify. Alberta lists the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon and Alaska as non-members. Newfoundland and Labrador notes that mileage is based on the previous year of travel. Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador each publish their own IRP pages, so check the process with the carrier’s base jurisdiction.

What to check or ask

• Which jurisdiction is the base, and in whose name the registration sits.
• Whether the fleet list on the registration matches the vehicles being sold.
• How distance was reported, since fees are based on it.
• How the registration is dealt with at closing; see the trucking business buyer checklist.