Vehicle registration plates of Alberta
The Canadian province of Alberta first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display licence plates in 1912.
List of plate issues
All serials (except a few in 1952 and 1953) exclude the letters I and O. Some three letter combinations were skipped because they spelled words. The BSE combination was issued in 2004, but was quickly followed by an optional recall.[1]
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 |
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1912 | white on dark blue | 1 to approximately 2400 | |
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1913 | white on red | 1 to approximately 3800 |
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1914 | black on white | 1 to approximately 5000 |
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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 |
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1916 | dark blue on white | 1 to approximately 10000 |
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1917 | black on yellow | 1 to approximately 22000 |
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1918 | white on black | 1 to approximately 35000 |
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1919 | black on white | 1 to approximately 36000 |
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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 |
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1921 | blue on gray | 1 to approximately 40-000 |
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1922 | yellow on black | 1 to approximately 43-000 |
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1923 | white on black | 1 to approximately 41-000 |
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1924 | red on gray | 1 to approximately 43-000 |
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1925 to 1936
The 1925 issue was the first to feature the full province name. 1929 was the only year before 1947 that six-digit serials were required.
Image | Issued | Design | Serials issued |
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1925 | yellow on black | 1 to approximately 52-000 |
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1926 | black on yellow | 1 to approximately 65-000 |
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1927 | black on light green | 1 to approximately 69-000 |
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1928 | white on blue | 1 to approximately 84-000 |
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1929 | black on orange | 1 to approximately 101-000 |
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1930 | white on green | 1 to approximately 93-000 |
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1931 | white on blue | 1 to approximately 88-000 |
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1932 | black on white | 1 to approximately 82-000 |
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1933 | blue on yellow | 1 to approximately 76-000 |
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1934 | red on white | 1 to approximately 75-000 |
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1935 | white on red | 1 to approximately 75-000 |
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1936 | orange on black | 1 to approximately 77-000 |
1937 to 1951
In 1937 the expiry date was changed to March 31, the design was changed in 1937, by placing Alberta on the top, and the expiry date on the bottom. In 1940 the text began alternating, and the first slogan appeared, "Drive Safely", this was done by abbreviating the expiry date to dmy format. In 1942 the slogan was replaced with "Canada", but was removed after that. In 1943 and 1944, plates with an expiry of March 31, 1944 were issued, but this was extended to March 31 1945 with a window sticker. This series used the 123-456 serial format.
Image | Issued | Design | Serials issued |
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1937 | black on yellow | 1 to approximately 85-000 |
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1938 | red on white | 1 to approximately 85-000 |
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1939 | black on white | 1 to approximately 90-000 |
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1940 | black on yellow | 1 to approximately 94-000 |
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1941 | white on black | 1 to approximately 93-000 |
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1942 | white on dark blue | 1 to approximately 87-000 |
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1943–44 | black on yellow | 1 to approximately 96-000 |
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1945 | orange on black | 1 to approximately 95-000 |
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1946 | green on white | 1 to approximately 98-000 |
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1947 | white on blue | 1 to approximately 101-000 |
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1948 | black on white | 1 to approximately 115-000 |
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1949 | red on white | 1 to approximately 130-000 |
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1950 | white on blue | 1 to approximately 153-000 |
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1951 | blue on yellow | 1 to approximately 163-000 |
1952 to 1953
In 1956, the Canadian provinces and U.S. states 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.[2] 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 |
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1952–53 | white on black | 12A34 | 10A10 to 99Z99 |
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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.[3] The 1967 base commemorated the centennial of Canadian Confederation.
Image | Issued | Design | Serial format | Serials issued |
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1954 | black on orange | AB 123 | unknown |
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1955 | yellow on blue | AB-123 | unknown |
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1956 | red on white | AB 123 | unknown |
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1957 | blue on white | unknown | |
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1958 | black on yellow | unknown | |
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1959 | green on white | unknown | |
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1960 | white on red | AB 1234 | BA 0001 to approximately DZ 1900 |
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1961 | blue on yellow | FA 0001 to JZ 9000 | |
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1962 | white on green | KA 0001 to approximately RD 3600 | |
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1963 | black on white | TA 0001 to approximately ZH 8400 | |
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1964 | white on blue | AB-12-34 | BA-00-01 to approximately HL-62-00 |
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1965 | red on white | JA-00-01 to approximately NK-84-00 | |
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1966 | blue on white | RA-00-01 to approximately ZL-76-00 | |
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1967 | green on white | BA-00-01 to approximately HR-95-00 | |
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1968 | white on green | JA-00-01 to approximately NZ-36-00 | |
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1969 | yellow on blue | RA-00-01 to approximately ZT-25-00 | |
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1970 | white on blue | BA-00-01 to approximately HZ-46-00 | |
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1971 | white on green | JA-00-01 to approximately NX-78-00 | |
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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.[3] 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, though these were not issued in alphabetical order. 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 |
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1973–74 | orange on blue | AB-12-34 | BA-00-01 to LZ-90-00 |
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1975–76 | black on yellow | ABC-123 | unknown |
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1977–80 | unknown | ||
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1981 | unknown | ||
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1982 | unknown | ||
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1983–84 | EAA-000 to EZZ-999 |
1984 to present
The current white, red and blue base was introduced in 1984. 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. Several serial dies have been used on this base, owing to different plate vendors.
Original Format
The base originally used the ABC-123 serial format, starting at BBB-000. The letters A, E, I, O, Q, U and Y were not used until 1998, when A, E, U and Y were added (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 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.
Exhaustion of combinations
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.[4][5] The new format started in 2010 at BBB-0000, with the letters A, E, I, O, Q and U skipped.
Personalized plates
In 1985, Alberta introduced personalized plates.[6] As of 2018, over 80,000 have been issued. Plates for private passenger vehicles can have a combination of up to seven characters (letters, numbers or spaces) but no special characters (exclamation mark, etc). The maximum is 5 for certain types of vehicles. The minimum number of characters is one. Personalized plates are also available for motorcycles. As in other jurisdictions, designs may be rejected or withdrawn by the Registrar of Motor Vehicle Services if they are deemed offensive or confusing.[7]Personalized plates are issued in pairs.
Image | Issued | Type | Serial format | Serials issued |
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1984–87 | Passenger | ABC-123 | BBB-000 to DZZ-999; FBB-000 to HZZ-999 (without A, E, U and Y) |
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1987–90 | Passenger | JBB-000 to LWK-499 (without A, E, U and Y) | |
1991 | Passenger | LWK-500 to MDR-499 (without A, E, U and Y) | ||
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1991–93 | Passenger | MDR-500 to NZZ-999; PBB-000 to PFB-199 (without A, E, U and Y) | |
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1993 | Passenger | PFB-200 to PZX-199 (without A, E, U and Y) | |
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1994 | Passenger | PZX-200 to RRF-199 (without A, E, U and Y) | |
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1995–96 | Passenger | RRF-200 to SLM-199 (without A, E, U and Y) | |
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1996 | Passenger | SLM-200 to SVL-599 (without A, E, U and Y) | |
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1997 | Passenger | SVL-600 to TGW-199 (without A, E, U and Y) | |
1998 | Passenger | TGW-200 to UXZ-999 (except some of UJ*) | ||
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1999 | Passenger | •some of UJ* •UWA-000 to UYZ-999 •VUR-000 to VYX-999 | |
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2000–01 | Passenger | •VAF-000 to VUQ-999 •VYY-000 to W**-unknown | |
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2002–03 | Passenger | •W**-unknown to WZZ-999 •YAA-000 to YZZ-999 | |
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2004–10 | Passenger | BAA-000 to TGU-999 (only with A, E, U, and/or Y) ZAA-000 to ZAZ-999, ZHA-000 to ZZZ-999 | |
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2005– present |
Veteran passenger vehicles |
ABC12 | VAA00 to present |
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2010– present |
Passenger | ABC-1234 | BBB-0000 to CBX-9999 (as of September 22, 2018) |
Support Our Troops plate
A specially designed plate was introduced on July 22, 2014 to honour current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces.[8] 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.[9]
Image | Dates issued | Type | Serial format | Serials issued | Notes |
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2014– present |
Passenger | AB1234 | AA0000 to AD9000 (as of July 9, 2018) | 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. |
Non-passenger plates
Image | Type | Issued | Design | Serial format | Serials issued |
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All-terrain vehicle | unknown-present | red on non-reflective white | ABC-123 | unknown (includes Z** with no vowels) |
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Car dealership | unknown-present | red on non-reflective white | A12345 | D00000 to D99999, M00000 to present (currently M2****) |
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Commercial vehicles, and Farm | unknown | red on non-reflective white | 12-3456 | 00-0000 to 09-9999 |
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unknown-present | 12-A345 | 00-A000 to present | ||
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Motorcycle | 1999–2010 | red on non-reflective white | AB123 | AA000 to ZZ999 |
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2010–present | ABC12 | AAA00 to present | ||
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Rental cars, Fleet plates | unknown | red on non-reflective white | 1-23456 | 1-00000 to 3-99999 |
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unknown-present | A-12345 | B-00000 to C-99999, F-00000 to H-99999, J-00000 to L-99999, E-00000-present | ||
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Trailer | unknown | red on non-reflective white | 1234-5A | 0000-1A to 9999-9D |
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unknown | 1234-56 | 4000-00 to 9999-99 | ||
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unknown | A123-45 | N000-00 to N999-99, P000-00 to P999-99, R000-00 to T999-99, V000-00 to Z999-99 | ||
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2010–present | 1AB2-34 | 0AA0-00 to present (9AG9-99) |
Previous plates
Image | Type | Issued | Design | Serial format | Serials issued |
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Exempt | 1974 | yellow on blue | 12-34-56 | 00-00-00 to unknown |
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Farm | 1953 | blue on white | F12345 | ??? |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to License plates of Alberta. |
References
- ↑ "A licence to change: Alberta plates to get facelift". Calgary Herald. November 9, 2007. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
- ↑ Garrish, Christopher (October 2016). "Reconsidering the Standard Plate Size". Plates. Vol. 62 no. 5. Automobile License Plate Collectors Association.
- 1 2 "Alberta License Plates". allaboutlicenseplates.com. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
- ↑ "Announcement of Alberta's new licence plate design postponed". Ponoka News. February 24, 2009. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "Personalized Plates Program Information Sheet" (PDF). Government of Alberta. Service Alberta. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
- ↑ Snowdon, Wallis; Keeler, Nola. "Too rude for the road: Here are the licence plates Alberta won't allow". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
- ↑ "Service Alberta: Support Our Troops Plate". Government of Alberta. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
- ↑ "Support Our Troops licence plate raised more than $220,000". Government of Alberta. November 7, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
External links
- Alberta Licence Plates 1912-Date All Types
- Alberta licence plates 1969-present
- Service Alberta - Vehicle Licence Plate and Registration