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.

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 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
	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 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.

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. The first Alberta licence plate that complied with these standards was issued five years beforehand, in 1951 (expired March 31, 1952).

Image	Issued	Type	Design	Serials issued
	1937	Passenger	black on yellow	?
	1938	Passenger	red on white	?
	1939	Passenger	black on white	?
	1940	Passenger	black on yellow	?
	1941	Passenger	white on black	?
	1942	Passenger		?
	1943- 1944	Passenger	black on yellow	?
	1945	Passenger	orange on black	?
	1946	Passenger	green on white	?
	1947	Passenger	white on blue	?
	1948	Passenger	black on white	?
	1949	Passenger	red on white	?
	1950	Passenger	white on blue	?
	1951	Passenger	blue on yellow	?

1952 to 1953

For the 1952 to 1953 series, reflective plates were tried, as well as an annual revalidation. The expiry date was moved back to December 31, but a tab was affixed to the plate to extend it to December 31, 1953. A letter was inserted in the third spot, however when these combinations ran up, it was moved to the second position. 1952 is the only year that the letters I and O were used, but at a smaller size.

Image	Issued	Type	Design	Serial format	Serials issued
	1952- 1953	Passenger type 1	white on black	12A34	???
		Passenger type 2		1A234	???
	1953	Farm	blue on white	A12345	???

1954 to 1972

In 1954 it was decided to use two letters instead of one, and beginning in 1955, instead of starting at 1 every year, which had been used up to 1952, the series was continued from the previous year. In 1960 the numbers were upped to four. 1954 and 1955 continued the style of the previous years, with Alberta and the two-digit year on the bottom. In 1956 this was changed to a four-digit year, which alternated top/bottom with Alberta. Until 1964, where Alberta alternated with the two-digit year left/right, on the bottom, except for 1968, when a few had Alberta on the right. 1967, Canada's centennial year, was the only year in this series to use a slogan, with the centennial logo of a stylized maple leaf.

Image	Issued	Type	Design	Serial format	Serials issued
	1954	Passenger	black on orange	AB 123	unknown
	1955	Passenger	yellow on blue	AB-123	unknown
	1956	Passenger	red on white	AB 123	unknown
	1957	Passenger	blue on white		unknown
	1958	Passenger	black on yellow		unknown
	1959	Passenger	green on white		unknown
	1960	Passenger	white on red	AB 1234	unknown
	1961	Passenger	blue on yellow		unknown
	1962	Passenger	white on green		unknown
	1963	Passenger	black on white		unknown
	1964	Passenger	white on blue	AB-12-34	AA-00-00 to HH-99-99
	1965	Passenger	red on white		JJ-00-00 to RR-99-99
	1966	Passenger	blue on white		SS-00-00 to ZZ-99-99
	1967	Passenger	green on white		AA-00-00 to HH-99-99
	1968	Passenger type 1	white on green		JJ-00-00 to RR-99-99
		Passenger type 2
	1969	Passenger	yellow on blue		SS-00-00 to ZZ-99-99
	1970	Passenger	white on blue		AA-00-00 to HH-99-99
	1971	Passenger	white on green		JJ-00-00 to RR-99-99
	1972	Passenger	white on blue		SS-00-00 to ZZ-99-99

1973 to 1983

From 1973 to 1983 two series of annual revalidation plates were used, with year stickers. The 1973 to 1974 series continued the serial format from the past, but when the letters ran up, had to move to all numbers, with a 74 and an X showing that it was already validated. The 1973-1974 series also used reflective plates, and were the debut of the stylized Alberta, and the slogan Wild Rose Country. The ABC-123 serial used from 1975 on, provided much more combinations, and serials were not repeated, but the series did not always follow alphabetically. 1975 is the only year in Alberta history that plates were issued without an expiry date. It, however, was December 31, each year, until 1977, when it was extended to March 31 of the following year. The new tricolour plates were not ready for issue before March 31, 1984, so those who paid their registration were given stickers for June 30, 1984. Five variations of the serial dies existed between 1975 and 1984, owing to different plate vendors.

Image	Issued	Type	Design	Serial format	Serials issued
	1973- 1974	Passenger	yellow on blue	AB-12-34	AA-00-00 to ZZ-99-99
	1974			12-34-56	00-00-00 to unknown
	1975- 1976	Passenger	black on yellow	ABC-123	unknown
	1977- 1980	Passenger			unknown
	1981	Passenger			unknown
	1982	Passenger			unknown
	1983- 1984	Passenger			EAA-000 to EZZ-999

1984 to present

The same tricolour plate has been issued since 1984, and are still valid today with yearly revalidation. The plates' expiry are staggered, on the last day of the month, based on the owner's last name. Reflective plates were used from 1984 to 1993. The series continued the ABC-123 format, starting at the beginning of the alphabet, but skipping vowels (A, E, U and Y were considered skipped vowels; I, O and Q were never used). This ended in 1998 at TGY, though, when it was realized that all the combinations could actually be used up. In 1999, the material used for making the plates changed from steel to aluminum due to a steel shortage at the plant where the licence plates were made; all plates issued by the province since then have been made from aluminum. After skipping plates starting with X and Z (X was used for motorcycles and early Z series for ATVs), the end of the alphabet was reached in 2003 (at YZZ-999), and restarted with vowels (BAA-000, filling in with vowels until TGU-999, then ZAA-ZAZ, then ZGA-000 to ZZZ-999) and work was started on creating a new design. A new design had not been completed as of 2010, when the ABC-123 format ran up, so for the first time, seven character plates have been issued (beginning with BBB-0000, skipping vowels but including Y), still with the old Government of Alberta logo, that had been changed in 2008. Several variations of the serial dies exist, owing to different plate vendors.

Image	Issued	Type	Serial format	Serials issued
	1984- 1987	Passenger	ABC-123	•BBB-000 to DZZ-999 (except with A, E, U, or Y) •FBB-000 to HZZ-999 (except with A, E, U, or Y)
	1987- 1990	Passenger		JBB-000 to LWK-499 (except with A, E, U, or Y)
	1991	Passenger		LWK-500 to MDR-499 (except with A, E, U, or Y)
	1991- 1993	Passenger		•MDR-500 to NZZ-999 (except with A, E, U, or Y) •PBB-000 to PFB-199 (except with A, E, U, or Y)
	1993	Passenger		PFB-200 to PZX-199 (except with A, E, U, or Y)
	1994	Passenger		PZX-200 to RRF-199 (except with A, E, U, or Y)
	1995- 1996	Passenger		RRF-200 to SLM-199 (except with A, E, U, or Y)
	1996	Passenger		SLM-200 to SVL-599 (except with A, E, U, or Y)
	1997	Passenger		SVL-600 to TGW-199 (except with A, E, U, or Y)
	1998	Passenger		TGW-200 to UXZ-999 (except some of UJ*)
	1999	Passenger		•some of UJ* •UWA-000 to UYZ-999 •VUR-000 to VYX-999
	2000- 2001	Passenger		•VAF-000 to VUQ-999 •VYY-000 to W**-unknown
	2002- 2003	Passenger		•W**-unknown to WZZ-999 •YAA-000 to YZZ-999
	2004- 2010	Passenger		BAA-000 to TGU-999, (only with A, E, U, and/or Y) ZAA-000 to ZAZ-999, ZHA-000 to ZZZ-999
	2005- present	Veteran passenger vehicles	ABC12	VAA00 to present
	2010- present	Passenger	ABC-1234	BBB-0000 to BYC-9999 (as of August 18, 2017)

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. 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.

Image	Dates issued	Type	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	2014– present	Passenger	AB1234	AA0000 to present	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

Image	Type	Issued	Design	Serial format	Serials issued
	All-terrain vehicle	unknown-present	red on non-reflective white	ABC-123	unknown (includes Z** with no vowels)
	Car dealership	unknown-present	red on non-reflective white	A12345	D00000 to D99999, M00000 to present (currently M2****)
	Commercial vehicles, and Farm	unknown	red on non-reflective white	12-3456	00-0000 to 09-9999
		unknown-present		12-A345	00-A000 to present
	Motorcycle	unknown	red on non-reflective white	AB123	AA000 to ZZ999
		unknown-present		ABC12	AAA00 to present
	Rental cars, Fleet plates	unknown	red on non-reflective white	1-23456	1-00000 to 3-99999
		unknown-present		A-12345	B-00000 to C-99999, F-00000 to H-99999, J-00000 to L-99999, E-00000-present
	Trailer	unknown	red on non-reflective white	1234-5A	0000-1A to 9999-9D
		unknown		1234-56	4000-00 to 9999-99
		unknown		A123-45	N000-00 to N999-99, P000-00 to P999-99, R000-00 to T999-99, V000-00 to Z999-99
		unknown-present		1AB2-34	0AA0-00 to present (9AG9-99)

External links

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