Vehicle registration plates of Alberta

The Canadian province of Alberta first required its residents to register their motor vehicles in 1906. Registrants provided their own licence plates for display until 1912, when the province began to issue plates.

List of plate issues

1912 to 1915

When the first plates were issued in Alberta, a number of materials were tried. 1912 and 1913 used porcelain enameled iron, and 1914 and 1915 used thin sheet metal with silkscreened number rolled over a wire frame. Serials issued started at 1 every year, and every year the registrant could request the same number as the previous year. The 1912 plate followed the design of other provinces, but 1913 to 1915 featured the Alberta shield and year on the left side. Registration expired December 31.

Image	Issued	Design	Serials issued
	1912	white on dark blue	1 to approximately 2400
	1913	white on red	1 to approximately 3800
	1914	black on white	1 to approximately 5000
	1915	black on yellow	1 to approximately 5800

1916 to 1920

Starting with the 1916 issue, a heavier gauge of metal was used, and the text moved to the right side, saying ALTA, and the year. The 1918 plates were the first embossed plates, and 1920 had the first painted border.

Image	Issued	Design	Serials issued
	1916	dark blue on white	1 to approximately 10000
	1917	black on yellow	1 to approximately 22000
	1918	white on black	1 to approximately 35000
	1919	black on white	1 to approximately 36000
	1920	white on green	1 to approximately 38000

1921 to 1924

The 1921 to 1924 issues each used several plate sizes, depending on the length of the serial. Hyphens were also used in serials for the first time.

Image	Issued	Design	Serials issued
	1921	blue on gray	1 to approximately 40-000
	1922	yellow on black	1 to approximately 43-000
	1923	white on black	1 to approximately 41-000
	1924	red on gray	1 to approximately 43-000

1925 to 1936

The 1925 base was the first to feature the full province name. Six-digit serials were used for the first time in 1929.

Image	Issued	Design	Serials issued
	1925	yellow on black	1 to approximately 52-000
	1926	black on yellow	1 to approximately 65-000
	1927	black on light green	1 to approximately 69-000
	1928	white on blue	1 to approximately 84-000
	1929	black on orange	1 to approximately 101-000
	1930	white on green	1 to approximately 93-000
	1931	white on blue	1 to approximately 88-000
	1932	black on white	1 to approximately 82-000
	1933	blue on yellow	1 to approximately 76-000
	1934	red on white	1 to approximately 75-000
	1935	white on red	1 to approximately 75-000
	1936	orange on black	1 to approximately 77-000

1937 to 1951

In 1937, the licence year was changed to April 1 to March 31, and continued as such until 1984. The 1940 (expiring March 31, 1941) base was the first to feature a slogan, namely "Drive Safely". This slogan was used again on the 1941 (expiring March 31, 1942) base, before the 1942 (expiring March 31, 1943) base featured "Canada", the first and thus far only Alberta base to feature the country name. Due to metal conservation for World War II, the 1943 (expiring March 31, 1944) base was revalidated until March 31, 1945 with windshield stickers. Six-digit serials were issued on each base from 1947 through 1951.

Image	Issued	Design	Serials issued
	1937	black on yellow	1 to approximately 85-000
	1938	red on white	1 to approximately 85-000
	1939	black on white	1 to approximately 90-000
	1940	black on yellow	1 to approximately 94-000
	1941	white on black	1 to approximately 93-000
	1942	white on dark blue	1 to approximately 87-000
	1943–44	black on yellow	1 to approximately 96-000
	1945	orange on black	1 to approximately 95-000
	1946	green on white	1 to approximately 98-000
	1947	white on blue	1 to approximately 101-000
	1948	black on white	1 to approximately 115-000
	1949	red on white	1 to approximately 130-000
	1950	white on blue	1 to approximately 153-000
	1951	blue on yellow	1 to approximately 163-000

1952 to 1953

In 1956, Canada, the United States, and Mexico came to an agreement with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the Automobile Manufacturers Association and the National Safety Council that standardized the size for licence plates for vehicles (except those for motorcycles) at 6 inches (15 cm) in height by 12 inches (30 cm) in width, with standardized mounting holes.[1] The first Alberta licence plate that complied with these standards was issued four years beforehand, in 1952.

The 1952 base was also the first reflective base, with beaded white characters on a black background. Letters were used in passenger serials for the first time: five-character serials were used, with a single letter in the third and later the second position. The letter Q was not used, while the letters I and O were at a smaller size to prevent confusion with the numbers 1 and 0.

Passenger and dealer plates on this base were revalidated for 1953 with black-on-aluminum "53" tabs. Other vehicle types, however, received new plates for 1953, with dark blue characters on a white background.

Image	Issued	Design	Serial format	Serials issued
	1952–53	white on black	12A34	10A10 to 99Z99
			1A234	1B100 to approximately 9F999

1954 to 1972

Two-letter series were introduced in 1954, with each series initially followed by three digits. In 1960, the number of digits increased to four, with each series running from 0001 to 9000. From 1964 through 1972, only B, C, E, H, J, K, L, N, R, T, X and Z were used as the first letter, with four such letters allocated each year.[2] The 1967 base commemorated the centennial of Canadian Confederation.

Image	Issued	Design	Serial format	Serials issued
	1954	black on orange	AB 123	EE 101 to ZZ 950, with gaps
	1955	yellow on blue	AB-123	BB-101 to ZM-950, with gaps
	1956	red on white	AB 123	unknown
	1957	blue on white		unknown
	1958	black on yellow		unknown
	1959	green on white		unknown
	1960	white on red	AB 1234	BA 0001 to approximately DZ 1900
	1961	blue on yellow		FA 0001 to JZ 9000
	1962	white on green		KA 0001 to approximately RD 3600
	1963	black on white		TA 0001 to approximately ZH 8400
	1964	white on blue	AB-12-34	BA-00-01 to approximately HL-62-00
	1965	red on white		JA-00-01 to approximately NK-84-00
	1966	blue on white		RA-00-01 to approximately ZL-76-00
	1967	green on white		BA-00-01 to approximately HR-95-00
	1968	white on green		JA-00-01 to approximately NZ-36-00
	1969	yellow on blue		RA-00-01 to approximately ZT-25-00
	1970	white on blue		BA-00-01 to approximately HZ-46-00
	1971	white on green		JA-00-01 to approximately NX-78-00
	1972	white on blue		RA-00-01 to ZZ-90-00

1973 to 1983

The 1973–74 base used the AB-12-34 serial format, with B, C, E, H, K and L used as the first letter.[2] It was also the first base to feature the "Wild Rose Country" slogan, which remains in use today.

The 1975–84 base introduced the ABC-123 serial format, which provided many more combinations. However, only 15 letters were used at first (B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, N, P, R, T, V and X), while others were later used only as the first letter (with some exceptions), and the overall order of issuance was not strictly alphabetical.[2] Most plates on this base were manufactured in Alberta, but some were manufactured in Quebec and Nova Scotia using these provinces' serial dies.

Image	Issued	Design	Serial format	Serials issued
	1973–74	orange on blue	AB-12-34	BA-00-01 to LZ-90-00
	1975–76	black on yellow	ABC-123	JBB-000 to LRP-999
	1977–80			unknown
	1981			MGB-000 to MXX-999; XKK-000 to XXX-999; SBB-000 to SBC-999
	1982			SBD-000 to SXX-999; QBB-000 to QXX-999
	1983–84			EBB-000 to approximately ETP-999

1983 to present

The current white, red and blue base was introduced in late 1983. Monthly staggered registration was introduced at the same time, with the month of expiration determined by the first letter of the registrant's surname, and the plate expiring on the last day of the assigned month. Plates were originally manufactured from steel and were reflective; non-reflective plates were introduced in 1993 as a cost-saving measure, while the material changed to aluminum in 1999 due to a steel shortage at the plant where the plates were manufactured. Front and rear plates were required until 1991; only rear plates have been required ever since.[3] Several serial dies have been used on this base, owing to different plate vendors.

The base originally used the ABC-123 serial format, starting at BBB-000. The letters I, O and Q were not used in this format, and A, E, U and Y were used only from 1997, beginning with the TGY series. After YZZ-999 was reached in 2003 (the 'Z' series were reserved for ATVs at the time), previously skipped series containing A, E, U and Y were issued, starting with the BAA series and ending with the TGU series in April 2009. These were followed by the 'Z' series that had not been issued on ATVs, including those containing A, E, U and Y. The 'A' and 'X' series were not issued due to their use on Handicapped and Motorcycle plates respectively.

Some three-letter series were skipped because they had offensive connotations. The BSE series was issued in 2004, but was largely recalled due to a mad cow disease crisis.[4]

As the ABC-123 format neared exhaustion in the late 2000s, the Alberta government launched an initiative to design a new base, with an expected launch date of 2009. This project was eventually put on hold in favour of introducing an ABC-1234 format on the 1984 base.[5][6] The new format started in June 2010 at BBB-0000, with the letters A, E, I, O, Q and U skipped.

In July 2019, the new Alberta logo was added to the base, with Wild Rose Country being kept. The issuance of the license plates with the new logo started with two out-of-order series: the last series with the old logo, CDT, was followed by CFT and then CFS. After that, regular sequence resumed: CDV through CFR, then (since CFS and CFT have already been issued) CFV and so forth.

Image	Issued	Type	Serial format	Serials issued
	1983-90	Passenger	ABC-123	BBB-000 to DZZ-999; FBB-000 to HZZ-999; JBB-000 to LWK-499 (without A, E, U and Y)
	1990–91	Passenger		LWK-500 to MDR-499 (without A, E, U and Y)
	1991–93	Passenger		MDR-500 to NZZ-999; PBB-000 to PFB-199 (without A, E, U and Y)
	1993–94	Passenger		PFB-200 to PZX-199 (without A, E, U and Y)
	1994–95	Passenger		PZX-200 to RRF-199 (without A, E, U and Y)
	1995–96	Passenger		RRF-200 to SLM-199 (without A, E, U and Y)
	1996	Passenger		SLM-200 to SVL-599 (without A, E, U and Y)
	1996-97	Passenger		SVL-600 to TGW-199 (without A, E, U and Y)
	1997-98	Passenger		TGW-200 to UVZ-999 (except some of UJ*)
	1998-2000	Passenger		some of UJ* UWA-000 to VAE-999; VUR-000 to VVX-999
	2000–03	Passenger		VAF-000 to VUP-999; VVY-000 to WZZ-999; YAA-000 to YZZ-999
	2003–10	Passenger		BAA-000 to TGU-999; ZAA-000 to ZGA-999 (only with A, E, U, and/or Y) ZGH-000 to ZZZ-999
	2005– present	Veteran passenger vehicles	ABC12	VAA00 to VPD99 (as of December 10, 2019)
	2010-19	Passenger	ABC-1234	BBB-0000 to CDT-9999
	2019- present	Passenger	ABC-1234	CDV-0000 to CHB-9999 (as of August 14, 2020)

Personalized plates

Alberta first issued personalized plates in 1985. As of 2018, over 80,000 such plates have been issued.[7]

Personalized plates for private passenger vehicles can feature between one and seven characters, including letters, numbers, and spaces, while plates for motorcycles and veterans' vehicles can feature between one and five characters. Special characters, such as hyphens and exclamation marks, are not permitted. As in other jurisdictions, combinations may be rejected or withdrawn by the Registrar of Motor Vehicle Services if they are deemed offensive or confusing.[8]

Personalized plates are issued in pairs, except for motorcycles. Only the rear plate is required to be displayed.

Specialty plates

A specially-designed Support Our Troops plate was introduced on July 22, 2014 to honour current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces.[9] The design features artwork in honour of the first four Alberta-based Canadian soldiers whose lives were lost in Afghanistan in April 2002. The plate is available at registry agent locations in Alberta for a one-time $75 fee and a $9 registry agent service charge. For every plate purchased, $55 of the purchase price goes to the Support Our Troops Program managed by the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services.[10]

On November 19, 2018, two specially-designed Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers plates were introduced, with $55 of each $75 plate going to the Calgary Flames Foundation and the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation.[11][12] In the first two months of sales 4507 plates were sold (2750 Oilers plates and 1757 Flames plates), raising over $247,000 for the foundations.[12]

Image	Type	Dates issued	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	Support Our Troops	July 22, 2014 – present	AB1234	AA0000 to AE8550 (as of July 14, 2020)	Awarded "Plate of the Year" for best new licence plate of 2014 by the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, the first time Alberta was so honored.
	Calgary Flames	November 19, 2018 – present	FB1234	FA0000 to FA5319 (as of June 18, 2020)[12]
	Edmonton Oilers	November 19, 2018 – present	DB1234	DA0000 to DA7715 (as of July 11, 2020)[12]

Non-passenger plates

Image	Type	Issued	Design	Serial format	Serials issued
	All-terrain vehicle	unknown- 2009	red on non-reflective white	ZBC-123	ZBB-000 to ZGB-999 (includes Z** with no vowels)
	Commercial/Farm	1983–86	red on non-reflective white	12-3456	00-0000 to 09-9999
		1986–present		12-A345	00-A000 to 45-N429 (as of June 24, 2020)
	Dealer	1983-present	red on non-reflective white	A12345	D00000 to D99999, M00000 to M74328 (as of November 15, 2019)
	Handicapped	1983–present	red on non-reflective white	ABC-123	AAA-000 to AAG-999 (as of September 12, 2019)
	Motorcycle	1983–99	red on non-reflective white	XBC-123	XBB-000 to XZZ-999 (without A, E, U and Y); XAA-000 to XZE-999 (only with A, E, U, and/or Y)
		1999–2010		AB123	AA000 to ZZ999
		2010–present		ABC12	AAA00 to NLP99 (as of August 7, 2020)
	Veteran Motorcycle	2012-present	red on non-reflective white	AB12	VA00 to VW64 (as of June 23, 2014)
	Rental cars, Fleet plates	1983–97	red on non-reflective white	1-23456	1-00000 to 3-99999
		1997–present		A-12345	B-00000 to C-99999, (1997-2004) F-00000 to H-99999, (2004-2011) J-00000 to L-99999, (2011-2017) E-00000- to E-99999 (2017-2019), U-00000 to U-82119 (2019-present; as of July 8, 2020)
	Trailer	unknown	red on non-reflective white	1234-5A	0000-1A to 9999-9D
		unknown		1234-56	4000-00 to 9999-99
		unknown-2010		A123-45	N000-00 to N999-99, P000-00 to P999-99, R000-00 to T999-99, V000-00 to Z999-99
	2010–present	1AB2-34	4AA0-00 to 5ZS9-99 (as of July 19, 2020)
	Antique Auto	unknown	red on non-reflective white	1-234	0-000 to 9-999
		unknown-present		A-123	A-000 to Y-069 (as of June 1, 2020)
	Consular Corps	2008-present	red on non-reflective white	CC-1234	CC-0000 to CC-1799 (as of January 12, 2020)

Previous plates

Image	Type	Issued	Design	Serial format	Serials issued
	Exempt	1974	yellow on blue	12-34-56	00-00-00 to unknown
	Farm	1953	blue on white	F12345	???

References

1. Garrish, Christopher (October 2016). "Reconsidering the Standard Plate Size". Plates. Vol. 62 no. 5. Automobile License Plate Collectors Association.
2. Tanner, Eric N. "Alberta License Plates". allaboutlicenseplates.com. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
3. "Province considers bringing back front licence plates". CBC News. January 2, 2008. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
4. "A licence to change: Alberta plates to get facelift". Calgary Herald. November 9, 2007. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
5. "Announcement of Alberta's new licence plate design postponed". Ponoka News. February 24, 2009. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
6. Landry, Frank (June 9, 2010). "7-digit licence plates hitting Alberta roads". Edmonton Sun. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2010.
7. "Personalized Plates Program Information Sheet" (PDF). Government of Alberta. Service Alberta. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
8. Snowdon, Wallis; Keeler, Nola (27 August 2018). "Too rude for the road: Here are the licence plates Alberta won't allow". CBC News. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
9. "Service Alberta: Support Our Troops Plate". Government of Alberta. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
10. "Support Our Troops licence plate raised more than $220,000". Government of Alberta. November 7, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
11. Dormer, Dave (November 17, 2018). "Licence plates have now joined the Battle of Alberta between Flames and Oilers". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
12. Mertz, Emily (25 January 2019). "When it comes to specialty licence plates, Edmonton Oilers winning Battle of Alberta". Global News. Retrieved 27 January 2019.

External links

• Alberta Licence Plates 1912-Date All Types
• Alberta licence plates 1969-present
• Service Alberta - Vehicle Licence Plate and Registration