Vehicle registration plates of Canada, also known as licence plates, are issued by provincial or territorial government agencies. Registration plates in Canada are typically attached to motor vehicles or trailers for official identification purposes. Some Canadian registration plates have unique designs, shapes, and slogans related to the issuing jurisdiction. For example, registration plates issued in the Northwest Territories are shaped like a polar bear. In Alberta, registration plates typically display the words "Wild Rose Country."
British Columbia, Manitoba, and Ontario are the only Canadian jurisdictions that require both front and rear registration plates. The remaining jurisdictions do not require front registration plates. Most Canadian jurisdictions also issue "vanity licence plates," which allow drivers to customize the characters displayed.
Some provinces issue unique registration plates to persons with disabilities. These plates typically display the International Symbol of Access, and entitled drivers to parking privileges. The international code for Canadian plates is .
Designs and serial formats
In all provinces and the territory of Yukon, licence plate serials are alphanumeric and usually assigned in ascending order. The letters I, O, Q and U are generally not used to avoid confusion with 1, 0 and V; additionally, British Columbia does not use the letters Y and Z (except for motorcycle plates). The Northwest Territories and Nunavut use all-numeric serials, which are also assigned in ascending order.
Many jurisdictions distinguish their licence plates through distinctive colour schemes and logos. For example, Ontario's plates have featured a crown graphic since 1937 (except 1951), while Yukon's plates have featured a gold prospector graphic since 1952. The Northwest Territories' plates since 1970, and Nunavut's from 1999 to 2012, are cut in the shape of a polar bear, but meet the standardized mounting guidelines (below).
In every jurisdiction except Nunavut, the serial is embossed onto the plate. Nunavut's current rectangular plate, first issued in 2012, has the serial screened; the territory's previous bear-shaped plate had the serial embossed. Other identifying information, such as the name of the issuing jurisdiction and the vehicle class, can be either screened or embossed.
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 in height by in width, with standardized mounting holes. These figures may vary slightly by jurisdiction. Smaller-sized plates are used for motorcycles and, in some jurisdictions, mopeds and certain types of trailers and construction equipment.
Showing current registration on plates
Historically, many Canadian plates were replaced every year, although the most common practise in modern times is to send new validation stickers to vehicle owners every year or two, to indicate that the vehicle registration is still valid.
Plates that are not up to date quickly attract the attention of law enforcement, because registration "renewal" is a transaction that can usually be undertaken only by the car's registered owner, once certain requirements have been met, and because registration fees are a source of government revenue. A delinquent registration sticker is often an indicator that the vehicle may be stolen, that the vehicle's owner has failed to comply with the applicable law regarding emission inspection or insurance, or that the vehicle's owner has unpaid traffic or parking tickets. Even with the stickers, most provinces previously required that all licence plates be replaced every few years; that practise is being abandoned by many provinces because of the expense of continually producing large numbers of plates.
The sticker is usually placed on one corner of the plate, while the month of the year in which the plate would expire is printed in an opposing corner. Some jurisdictions combine the year and month on one sticker. In others, the plate's validation is a decal displayed from the inside of the windshield. The colour of plate stickers and windshield decals often changes annually, to allow for easier detection by police. Quebec no longer issues plate stickers and has not done so since 1992. Saskatchewan stopped issuing the stickers on November 1, 2012, as a cost-saving measure. British Columbia no longer issues insurance decals and allows motorists to remove existing and expired decals from their licence plates as of May 1, 2022.
Most validation stickers are either serialized (with the serial number recorded on the registration), or are printed by a special printer at the time of registration or renewal with the vehicle's licence plate number on them to discourage fraudulent sticker use, as the sticker will be valid only for the plate for which it was intended.
Currently, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Yukon are jurisdictions in which decals are not used. Instead, the police rely on the use of cameras and computers that automatically report any plates for which the registration is expired (making the use of fake stickers obsolete), the car has been reported as stolen and/or similar reasons. That said, the vehicle registration certificate is the only way for the owner to prove that a vehicle has valid registration.
Temporary permits
Each and every province issues temporary licence plates differently.
Ontario issues 10-day temporary permits, available up to twice in a 365-day period, when a licence holder purchases a used vehicle, as long as the vehicle was legally registered as 'Fit' with the previous owner. An 'Unfit' vehicle (has not passed safety standards with the previous owner) can not be issued a temporary permit. If a vehicle passes safety standards inspection, but does not pass emissions testing it may be issued up to four 10-day temporary permits. As of 2008, Ontario issues regular licence plates with a registration sticker that is labelled "T" to owners of recently purchased used vehicles. Classic vehicles (older than 25 model years) use the paper printed window temporary plate (as pictured in this article).
In Alberta, temporary permits are not issued. Instead, the licence plate is issued the day of registration from a registry.
In British Columbia, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) issues 15-day permits to people who purchase a vehicle on the province's territory. These cost $60 and consist of a piece of paper which will be attached to the windshield of the vehicle. The permits include insurance since auto insurance in British Columbia is not privatized but brokerage is, so they are obtained through Autoplan brokers. For British Columbia residents purchasing a vehicle elsewhere in Canada or in the United States, temporary insurance can be obtained from ICBC over the phone, being one of the few times one deals with ICBC directly.
The situation in Manitoba and Saskatchewan is similar.
Life cycle Plates typically stay with the owner rather than the vehicle, and motorists usually transfer plates from their previous vehicle to the new one as a cost-saving measure. For this reason, in Ontario it is possible to see a brand new vehicle with valid 1973-issue licence plates, while a 15-year-old vehicle may have brand new plates if there were no previous plates to transfer.
In Newfoundland and Labrador plates typically stay with the vehicle and the registration transferred between owners, with new plates being issued to new vehicles. Exceptions include veteran, fire fighter, and amateur radio operator plates.
In Ontario, motorists may apply to transfer licence plates with the approval of the provincial Ministry of Transportation under special circumstances, such as from one immediate family member to another. Motorists may also purchase year of manufacture plates for classic vehicles up to the plate issuing year of 1973 in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario
Various provinces have different schemes for reissuing licence plates, a process known as "replating." In some jurisdictions, plates are issued on a permanent basis and are not replaced unless the owner requests a new plate or that their existing plate be remade. These jurisdictions include New Brunswick and Ontario. Other jurisdictions replate on a rolling basis, replacing a particular motorist's plate when it reaches a certain age. Yet other jurisdictions may recall a particular series of plates for reissuance at regular or irregular intervals. This is particularly common in jurisdictions in which only one licence plate series or design is valid at any given time. Optional-issue plates may or may not follow the same rules for replacement as standard-issue plates, depending on the jurisdiction.
Mounting
In the provinces of Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan, and the territories of Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon, licence plates are currently only required on the rear of most vehicles. The remaining provinces, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Ontario, require the licence plates to be mounted on both the front and rear of the vehicle. Dealership plate frames or custom plate frames are allowed as long as the frame does not obstruct view of validation stickers or district.
Vanity and speciality plates In each province but Newfoundland and Labrador, motorists are given the option of extra-cost vanity plates (also known as "personalised" or "prestige" plates), which are licence plates with a custom serial (sequence of letters and/or numbers). Generally vanity plates are not permitted to have profane or obscene messages on them, although standards vary widely among issuing jurisdictions as to what constitutes an unacceptable message.
In some jurisdictions, vehicle owners may also pay extra for speciality plates. With these, the plate serial is chosen by the licensing agency—as with regular plates—but the owners select a plate design that is different from the normal licence plate. For example, an alumnus or student of an area university might purchase a plate with the school's logo, or a sports enthusiast might decide to pay extra for a plate depicting their favourite team. A portion of the extra cost of these licence plates often ends up as a donation for a related school or non-profit organization. In 1996 the province of Ontario issued an optional Star Trek licence plate. It was discontinued in the early 2000s. Some jurisdictions allow for some or all of their speciality plates to also be vanity plates, usually for an additional fee on top of the cost of the plate.
Beginning in 2010, Saskatchewan issued speciality plates in celebration of the Saskatchewan Roughriders' centennial. The plates feature the slogan "Pride Lives Here." Plates in the first series begin with an R, followed by four digits (R####); subsequent series begin with a digit, then an R, then three digits (#R###). These plates are also available as five character vanity plates for an additional fee. In the first sixteen months, 22,000 Roughrider plates were issued, resulting in $585,000 profit for the football club. In 2012, SGI made Rider plates available for motorcycles and snowmobiles.
Veterans are allowed to have a special veteran's licence plate.