Hello,
I am new on here but been reading it for a long time.
I am moving to Canada in a few months. The plan is to buy a car and drive it across country before settling somewhere.

My question is this: If I buy a car in say, Nova Scotia, but plan to drive it to - and live in - BC, how does the licensing and registering of the vehicle work? Am I given NS plates by the dealer in NS that I will then have to change when I arrive in BC?

Thank you in advance!

Lonick

Have you any idea of where you want to settle? Judging by your post Im guessing you would be flying into Halifax. How long will you spend driving across Canada and how long will you stay in each Province along the way? What happens if you get to BC and decide NS is where you want to settle turn around and drive back
Most register and insure the vehicle in the Province they live in however you can buy a vehicle in one Province and drive it to another using special transit insurance plates and insurance.
Are you paying for the vehicle in cash? Otherwise if not how do you propose to buy one without a fixed address?

Hi FL, thanks for the reply.
I didn't know about transit plates and insurance, so thank you for that info.
We will be buying the car for cash. We are unsure about where we will end up - world / lobster, and all that...
We will probably end up in BC, after spending a couple of months on the road. However, there is a chance we will end up in Ontario. Will it matter if we don't have a fixed idea on where we will be? Can we still get the transit plates etc?

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks CT. It's good to finally get here!

What you are doing is not the normal so you would have to check with the authorities in the place where you buy the vehicle. In Transit permits are usually valid for days not months or to move from point A to B without it being registered. Plus with having no fixed address chances are you would pay all taxes in NS and if you decided to live in BC or Ontario you would then pay Provincial tax again when you register it in that Province.
These are the NS rules
https://novascotia.ca/sns/paal/rmv/paal274.asp

I would think the easiest way to do this would be to "settle" in NS, at a hotel or holiday let, register the car at that address, arrange mail forwarding and then drive across the country. You may wind up paying sales tax on the vehicle twice but that's likely to be cheaper than insuring the car while having no fixed address. Insurance companies charge a lot and they charge several times a lot to insure vehicles they know are primarily used outside their Province of registration (NF plates in Fort McMoney, for example).

I believe you're legally allowed to drive for 90 days on the plates of the old Province after becoming resident in the new but that's an obscure offence with a tiny risk of conviction. I drove for literally years on CO plates in ON.

When I renew my plates in Saskatchewan I have to sign a form saying I won't be taking the car out of the province for more than 2 continuous months. I lie and sign it, but often I do return within 2 months so it isn't too much of a stretch to rationalise that I at least intend to return. I know people who like Dbd33 and his Colorado plates kept Sask plates in BC for years to save money and only returned to renew them.

Alberta plates are reasonably common here. Insurance is cheaper in AB so people drag out changing them for as long as they can.

You would have to have an adress to register the vehicle to.

I would think the easiest way to do this would be to "settle" in NS, at a hotel or holiday let, and register the car at that address.

what about a small RV, never rented one myself so no idea of cost but maybe like Uhaul you could hire in NS and off hire in BC ? Sure someone on here has hired one and knows if it can be done ?

Quick search brought this up, http://www.cruisecanada.com/?src=goo...FQkyaQod_oAPVQ

Good thinking! I don't know about that company but I see cross-Canada rental rv's with the advertising on them all ovef the highway in summer. Never be stuck for lodging with a little planning, more comfy than tenting, take any side trip you want, drive and drop then fly back or do a circuit.

And what do they do when they crash and the insurance won't pay out?

Some great advice here! Thank you.
I'll either register at an NS 'address' or try the rental idea. Didn't even think of that!
Thanks all.