EDMONTON — Starting in the new year, Alberta licence plates will start to be sticker free.

The province says the stickers, which mark the year and month of a vehicle's registration, have become redundant in the era of reflective plates.

The government is moving to high-definition reflective licence plates, which the province says are more easily scanned roadside by police and other law enforcement agencies.

Stickers were introduced in 1974 and have been used for more than 5.5 million registered vehicles in Alberta at a cost of more than $1 million a year.

Four Canadian jurisdictions have already ditched stickers: Quebec. Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories.

Stickers will still be required for farm vehicles and commercial vehicles that travel between regions as part of international agreements.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2020.

The Canadian Press