Canadian licence plate designs and serial formats

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Main article: Vehicle registration plates of Canada

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 never issued, and were officially scrapped, but many found their way into the collectors' 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.

Contents

[edit] Current and future standard-issue passenger plate designs and serial formats

Province/Territory Description Slogan Serial format Image
Alberta red on reflective white "Wild Rose Country" ABC 123
British Columbia blue on reflective white with screened provincial flag "Beautiful British Columbia" 123 ABC
Manitoba dark blue on white with screened graphic landscape "Friendly" ABC 123
New Brunswick red on reflective white with provincial wordmark ABC-123
Newfoundland and Labrador blue on reflective white with provincial wordmark ABC 123
Northwest Territories blue on white "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 on white "Explore Canada's Arctic" 12345N
Ontario blue on reflective white with screened crown separator "Yours to Discover" ABCD-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"
  • 123 ABC
  • ABC 12D (future)
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" ABC 12

[edit] Plate types and serial formats no longer issued but still valid

Province/Territory Description Slogan Serial format Image
Alberta none
British Columbia Beautiful British Columbia ABC 123
Manitoba none
New Brunswick red on reflective white with provincial wordmark ABC 123
Newfoundland and Labrador Celebrate 500 Years

A World of Difference flag

 ABC 123

ABC 123 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
blue on reflective white with screened crown separator		 Keep It Beautiful

Yours to Discover

 ABC-123

123-ABC

Prince Edward Island

Québec dark blue on reflective white Je me souviens ABC 123
Saskatchewan green on reflective white with screened wheat graphic Land of the Living Skies ABC 123
Yukon none

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Manitoba

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Vehicle registration plates of Canada (by province or territory)