A few years ago I was "working" with my local Rep to change the law here to allow the use of the plack for any use.
Unfortunately it was over come by more pressing political matters and the Rep lost all interest.
The thing with MN law is that to use the hanging plack, the canoe has to be xx old, (built before xx date) and
the use/activity has to be an "official" club or other event.
Just taking it out for a paddle doesn't qualify.
So basically you have 3 options;
1) buy and put on the sticker (the least painless IMO)
2) register the canoe in another state, (pain unknown, be sure to pick a state that doesn't require stickers and/or numbers)
3) don't do anything and take your chances
I ended up just putting the stickers on all my boats, strippers and W/C.
For a boat that gets used, it doesn't matter much (at least to me)
Oh, during this time, I was conversing with the DNR small boat "manager" (to establish acceptable language).
It's very, very unlikely that a change to the registration and marking requirements would happen.
It's not the money so much (as the registration cost for canoes might not even cover the cost of the paper work)
but they, the DNR, uses the numbers to allocate resources (staff and dollars) and projects.
Dan
btw - IF you put a motor on the canoe, then the 3" numbers required in addition to the sticker.