Policy

Effective April 1, 2024, a discount of 25% must be applied to the total fees owed on eligible motor vehicle services for Alberta residents who are:

• Aged 65 years or older at the time of the service.
• Authorized by a senior to complete services on their behalf.

The 25% discount is applied to the government fee and the registry agent service charge; see Seniors’ Discount Job Aids.

Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction (SARTR) will reimburse a registry agent for the discounted portion of the total fees.

A list of eligible services can be found here. Eligible services are also indicated on a pop-up window at the payout screen in MOVES.

Requirements

To receive a discount, the service must be:

• An eligible service.
• Processed under the senior’s MVID or a joint MVID (including when an organization is a joint member) where a senior is also a member. A person who is aged 65 or older will have a “Senior: Y” flag indicated on their MVID.
  • SARTR will only be able to reimburse a registry agent for the discounted portion of the fee and service charge if the MOVES service was processed under a senior client’s MVID.
  • If the policy for a specific service indicates the service must be processed under the registry agent’s office MVID or the MVID of an authorized person, the registry agent must comply with those policies. This means that in these instances, a discount must not be provided unless the authorized person is also a senior.
    • For example, driver’s abstracts requested by a third party, or Vehicle Information Reports and in-transit permits for clients who do not have an Alberta MVID.

A client must:

• Provide acceptable identification for the applicable service.
• Have a “Senior: Y” flag indicated on their MVID at the time of the service.
• Be an Alberta resident and have an Alberta address on file.
  • For the purposes of receiving a discount, if the senior has an Alberta address on their MVID, this is sufficient proof they are residing in Alberta.
  • If a client does not have an Alberta address, or it is clear in another way that they are residing in a jurisdiction outside of Alberta (for example, requesting a driver’s abstract so they can obtain a driver’s licence in another jurisdiction), a discount must not be provided to the client.

A registry agent must:

• Check the MVID of the client to determine if the client is a senior and eligible for the service.
• Ensure the client is a resident by verifying that the address on the client’s file is an Alberta address.
  • If the client does not have an Alberta address but verbally confirm they are an Alberta resident, the address on their MVID must be updated to their Alberta address.
  • If a client is not an Alberta resident but has a “Senior: Y” flag on their MVID, the registry agent must not provide the client with a discount and must send an e-mail to Seniors’ Discounts Investigations and Disputes advising that a discount was not provided to the client.
• Ensure the discount is applied appropriately.

Driver's Medical Discount

A senior who has paid a fee for a driver’s medical on or after April 1, 2024, may attend a registry office to obtain a reimbursement of 25% of the cost of the driver’s medical (excluding GST).

If the senior is not able to attend a registry office, they may have a third party/representative attend a registry office and apply for the refund on their behalf.

The client must:

• Have been 65 years old (or older) on the date the medical was completed.
• Have a “Senior: Y” flag indicated on their MVID at the time the driver’s medical credit service is processed in MOVES.
• Provide acceptable identification; see 2.05.02 Acceptable Identification/Enrolment.
  • If the client is a third party/representative of the senior that is requesting the reimbursement on their behalf, the client must provide sufficient identifying information about the senior which will allow a registry agent to confidently find the correct MVID; for example, driver’s licence number or MVID, full name and birthdate, etc. If a registry agent is not confident, they located the correct senior’s MVID, the service must not be processed.
  • A registry agent must not update, release or share any information about the senior with the representative.
• Provide a receipt from the applicable medical professional that completed the driver’s medical.
  • A driver’s medical may be completed by any of the following:
    • A general practitioner and/or specialist who is a regulated member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta.
    • A nurse practitioner who is a regulated member of the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta.
    • A general practitioner or nurse practitioner who has a similar status in another Canadian jurisdiction outside of Alberta.
  • The receipt must include: 
    • The name and address of the medical professional, clinic or office who completed the medical.
    • The client’s name.
    • The total amount paid by the client and that the fees were paid for the completion of a driver’s medical.
    • The date of the service.

A registry agent must:

• Ensure the client has a “Senior: Y” flag on their MVID.
• Verify that the client was 65 years old (or older) on the date the driver’s medical was completed.
• Review the client’s operator file and/or check for alerts to determine if they were required to obtain a driver’s medical in relation to their driver’s licence; for types of clients who require a medical, see 3.05.05 Medicals / Visions.
  • If a client’s MVID does not indicate a reason for the client to require a driver’s medical, the medical credit must not be processed.
• Update the client’s address (if applicable).
  • If a third party/representative is applying for the service on behalf of the senior, an address change must not be entered. An alert may be placed on the seniors’ MVID indicating the address the cheque should be sent and it will be redirected there.
• Calculate 25% of the total amount paid for the medical (excluding GST) as displayed on the receipt to determine the credit amount owed to the client.
• Enter the dollar amount owed to the client into MOVES using the Miscellaneous Document Medical Credit service.
  • The medical credit service must be processed under the MVID of the senior who purchased the driver’s medical.
• Submit a copy of the driver’s medical receipt for imaging.
• Process the medical credit service in its own transaction envelope without any other services. The credit must not be applied to any other services.
  • If the client has overdue fines, a registry agent must not apply the credit to the outstanding balance; see 1.10.09 Refunds.

Restrictions on Client Files

A registry agent may process a Driver’s Medical Credit to a client without calling Maintenance Enforcement if there is an alert on a client's file which states:

“Client can obtain photo identification, driver’s abstracts, and parking placards only. All other motor vehicle services are restricted by Alberta Justice. For more information call 422-5555 or 310-0000-422-5555, Mon-Fri, 8:15am-4:00pm.”

If the above alert is not present, and the client requires a Maintenance Enforcement or Reinstatement Condition or Abandoned Motor Vehicle charge to be temporarily lifted to process the Driver’s Medical Credit, a registry agent must contact the following departments during regular business hours. Upon approval, a registry agent may process a Driver’s Medical Credit.

Note: If a client has any of the following restrictions, the only services they may receive are identification card related services, driver’s abstracts, parking placards, and driver’s medical credits. If the client is requesting any other service, such as a driver’s licence service, the restriction applies and the client must address the requirements of the restriction before the additional service can be processed.

Restriction Type	Lifted By	Telephone
ABAND.MVAC Abandoned Motor Vehicle Charge	Treasury Board and Finance	(780) 415-1961 (780) 427-8255
MAINT-ENFR Maintenance Enforcement Program	Justice	(780) 644-3663 (780) 401-7653
REIN or NSF reinstatement fee or non-negotiable cheque	Revenue	(780) 644-3587 (780) 422-9651
FINES	Registry Agent using Restriction Override with Reason: CI 8 or ID Card

Financial Balancing 

MOVES will display and charge the full price of government fees for all services even if the person is a senior and the services are to be discounted to the client. This means the registry agent must track which services they have processed that were discounted and account for those discounts when balancing at the end of the business day.
For how this will impact cash drawer transfers and bank deposits, see 1.10.01 Clerk Cash Drawer, 1.10.02 Office Cash Drawer, and 1.10.03 Province of Alberta Bank Account.

Reimbursements

SARTR will track all services that are eligible for the discount and reimburse the registry agent for the portion of the fee and service charge that was not collected from the client during payment; see 1.10.17 Registry Agent Service Charge Reimbursement.
 

Date Originally Issued: Apr 01, 2024
Date Last Revised: Jul 01, 2024