Where to sell cars and vehicles in Hamilton

On a sale the seller keeps the licence plates and the plate portion of the permit, and gives the buyer the vehicle portion of the owner's permit with the completed and signed Application for Transfer on the back, an original signed and dated bill of sale, and a safety standards certificate where one is required.

Under the mandatory vehicle branding program, a vehicle branded irreparable "has been written-off as a total loss", "can only be used for parts or scrap" and "cannot be driven again in Ontario" — it remains sellable for parts and scrap but can never be registered for road use. A salvage vehicle has also been a total loss but may be repaired; to be reclassified as rebuilt it must undergo and pass a structural inspection at a registered DriveON Vehicle Inspection Centre, with photographs of the damage and detailed invoices for the major components used. Only vehicles branded none or rebuilt can be driven on Ontario roads. Owners have 90 days to appeal a salvage or irreparable brand assigned in Ontario.

Discard the vehicle online through SAAQclic if it is registered to an individual, or in person at a SAAQ service outlet. Where the vehicle goes to a scrap dealer or recycler, the dealer-recycler "will give you an attestation of transaction, which you must present at one of our service outlets"; ownership then transfers to the dealer-recycler. You are issued a new registration certificate marked "Mise au rancart". You must remove the licence plate: you "can destroy it so that nobody can use it or keep it for up to 3 years to register a vehicle that requires a licence plate of the same category."

An Alberta registration can be transferred to another vehicle you own. To do it, bring to a registry agent "acceptable identification", "proof of ownership of the new vehicle" and "proof of valid insurance 'pink card'". Alberta issues no separate paper title, so the registration certificate is the ownership document.

BC's regulated metals are items substantially made of non-ferrous metal — aluminum, copper including brass and bronze, lead, magnesium, nickel and zinc — together with a specific list of scrap items that includes utility wire, traffic signals, street lighting equipment, sewer grates, guardrails, grave markers, construction site scrap metal and "a catalytic converter that is not attached to an exhaust system." Car batteries are noted as not regulated. The practical consequence for a seller is that cutting the converter out turns one transaction into two, and the detached part is the regulated one.

The Canadian Auto Recyclers' Environmental Code, developed from the National Code of Practice written for Environment Canada in 2008, requires removal and proper management of reusable parts, batteries, mercury switches, oils, fluids, coolants, gasoline and refrigerants before metal recycling. Certification requires an independent audit, and Automotive Recyclers of Canada makes maintaining it a condition of membership for direct members. Pre-2002 vehicles commonly contain mercury switches in convenience lighting.