Alberta seniors will receive a discount on personal registry services

As the cost of living continues to rise, Alberta seniors will receive some relief in the form of discounts on personal registry services like driver's licences and vehicle registrations.

On Thursday, the government announced a 25 per cent discount for seniors aged 65 and over for a number of personal registry services.

The discount will be put in place starting April 1.

"These are unavoidable expenses, part of life for many Albertans, but seniors are the fastest growing age group in the province and many rely on assistance to meet their basic needs, afford essential supports, and age safely in their homes," said Premier Danielle Smith.

"So it's more urgent than ever to provide them with relief from inflation-caused high cost of living."

Over 178,000 seniors in Alberta rely on income supports just to meet basic needs, according to Dale Nally, the minister of service Alberta and red tape reduction.

"The discount will be applied at the time of payment, so it will be easy and simple," Nally said. "We made certain that the seniors discount will be applied without any burdensome forms or applications."

Currently, Alberta has over 700,000 seniors living in the province, according to Nally. By 2035, that number is expected to be over one million.

"Having and operating a vehicle is something that many of us take for granted, it takes on a whole new meaning in later life," said Sheila Hallett, the executive director of the Edmonton Seniors Coordinating Council. "I've often heard seniors relate it with quality of life, especially when there are not transportation options in rural and remote areas.

"As older adults consistently express a desire to age in their communities as long as they can, having means to connect often involves transportation, driver licence renewals and vehicle registrations or services that a large percentage of older adults use."

Some of the services included are road tests for several classes of licence, land titles and marriage certificates. A full list of the discounted services is available on the Alberta government website.

The discount is available in-person and online.

Services that will not have the discount applied to them include:

• Corporate and business services;
• Personal property services;
• Commercial vehicle registrations;
• Optional products such as personalized and specialty licence plates;
• Fines;
• Ignition interlock; and
• Restricted licence applications

A seniors' discount for driver medical exams will be implemented later in the year, according to the government.

A discount on camping fees is also planned.