Canadian licence plate designs and serial formats
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In Canada, licence plate numbers are usually assigned in ascending order, beginning with a starting point such as AAA-001. Thus, someone familiar with the sequence can determine roughly when the licence plate was issued. After Ontario's transition to an ABCD-123 format in 1997, plates were issued in ascending order starting with AAAA-001. It took close to ten years to exhaust the supply of plate numbers with A as the first digit. In late 2006, plates with B as the first digit were assigned, and have continued from there sequentially.
The gradual increase in the use of letters in the serials of licence plates has given rise to an increased possibility of unintentional profane or inappropriate words or messages arising from the use of sequential alphanumeric combinations. Thus, numbering sequences generally exclude certain combinations of letters or numbers that would be potentially offensive. Jurisdictions' attention to excluding offensive combinations varies widely, however. In 1986, Waldale, a Canadian licence plate manufacturer, due to a production error, produced an entire batch of New Brunswick plates that began with the letters ASS. The plates were issued, and were unofficially scrapped, but many found their way into the collectors' black market.
From 1971 to 1975, Manitoba's licence plate bore the slogan "Sunny Manitoba: 100,000 lakes" [1] but was changed to "Friendly Manitoba", possibly due to conflict with Minnesota's "10,000 lakes" slogan.[citation needed]
Contents
Current and future standard-issue passenger plate designs and serial formats
| Province/Territory | Description | Slogan | Serial format | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | red on non-reflective white | "Wild Rose Country" | ABC-1234 |  |
| British Columbia | blue on reflective white with screened provincial flag / blue and white mountain scene with the 2010 olympic symbol screened | "Beautiful British Columbia / The Best Place on Earth (opt)" | AB1 23C (Passenger Cars)[2]
AB 1234 (Passenger Trucks) |
|
| Manitoba | dark blue on white with screened graphic landscape | "Friendly Manitoba" | ABC 123 | |
| New Brunswick | red on reflective white with provincial wordmark and rainbow design | "New Nouveau Brunswick Canada" | ABC 123 | |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | blue on reflective white with provincial wordmark | "Newfoundland Labrador" | ABC 123 | |
| Northwest Territories | blue on white, shaped like a polar bear | "Explore Canada's Arctic" | 123456 | |
| Nova Scotia | blue on reflective white with screened image of the Bluenose | "Canada's Ocean Playground" | ABC 123 | |
| Nunavut | blue and white with the aurora borealis and a polar bear | "ᓇᕗᑦ Nunavut" | MLA 123 | |
| Ontario | blue on reflective white with screened crown separator | "Yours to Discover" or "Tant à Découvrir" | 123 ABC (1994 - Passenger)
ABCD 123 (1997 - Passenger) AB1 234 (1995 - Commercial) 234 1AB (1996 - Commercial) AB 12345 (2011 - Commercial) |
|
| green on reflective white with screened white trillium separator (for green vehicles such as plug-in hybrids and battery-powered electric vehicles)[3] | "Green Vehicle" | GVAA-123 | ||
| Prince Edward Island | green on reflective white with screened photo of windmills | "Canada's Green Province" | AB 123 | |
| "La province verte du Canada" | AB 123 |  |
||
| Quebec | dark blue on reflective white | "Je me souviens" (I Remember) | A12 BCD |  |
| green on reflective white with electric vehicle pictogram on the lower left side (for electric vehicles)[4] | ||||
| Saskatchewan | green on reflective white with screened wheat graphic | "Land of Living Skies" | 123 ABC | |
| Yukon | black on white with screened miner image | "The Klondike" | ABC12 | |
| Department of National Defence - All provinces and territories | black on reflective white with "Canada" on top flanked by two red maple leaves | none | 12345 |
Plate types and serial formats no longer issued but still valid
| Province/Territory | Description | Slogan | Serial format | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | red on reflective white | "Wild Rose Country" | ABC-123 |  |
| red on non-reflective white | ||||
| British Columbia | blue on reflective white with screened provincial flag | "Beautiful British Columbia" | ABC 123 (Passenger Cars)
1234 AB (Passenger Trucks) 123 ABC (Passenger Cars 2014) |
 |
| Manitoba | none | |||
| New Brunswick | red on reflective white with provincial wordmark | none | ABC-123 |  |
| red on reflective white with provincial wordmark and rainbow design | "Be...in this place - Être...ici on le peut'" | ABC 123 | ||
| Newfoundland and Labrador | red and blue embossed on white | none | ABC-123 | |
| red on reflective white with screened Viking ship graphic | "A World of Difference" | ABC 123 | ||
| red on reflective blue/white with screened Cabot graphic | "Celebrate 500 Years" | ABC 123 | ||
| red on reflective white with screened provincial flag graphic | none | ABC 123 | ||
| Northwest Territories | none | |||
| Nova Scotia | blue on white | "Canada's Ocean Playground" | ABC 123 | |
| Nunavut | none | |||
| Ontario | blue on white with embossed crown separator | "Keep It Beautiful" | ABC 123 | |
| blue on white with embossed crown separator | "Yours to Discover" | ABC 123
123 ABC |
||
| blue on reflective white with screened crown separator | "Yours to Discover" | 123 ABC | ||
| Prince Edward Island | green on white with embossed provincial crest | none | ABC 123 | |
| red on reflective white with screened Anne of Green Gables graphic | "Home of Anne of Green Gables" | AB 123 | ||
| green on reflective green/white/blue background with screened Confederation Bridge graphic | "Confederation Bridge" | AB 123 | ||
| green on reflective green/white/blue background with screened Province House graphic | "Birthplace of Confederation" | AB 123 | ||
| Québec | dark blue on reflective white | "Je me souviens" | 123A456 | |
| ABC 123 |  |
|||
| 123 ABC | ||||
| Saskatchewan | green on reflective white with screened wheat graphic | none | ABC 123 | |
| Yukon | none | |||
See also
References
- ↑ Manitoba
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Automobile License Plate Collectors' Association
- Current High-Issue License Plates (U.S. and Canada)
- PL8S.COM - The License Plate Collectors Hobby Website
- License Plates of North America, 1969-Present
- The License Plate Shack
- Pl8ster.net
- The Back Bumper
- Zuls Plate Page
- R.T.'s Blank Plates-pictures of license plates
- Sebald American License Plates
