British Columbia License Plates

This is the current format which started in August 2014, low AA0 10A 2016-01-14 Adriaan Bergink. This series did not produce any prefixes with "BJ" or "BS." Sticker boxes disappeared during mid-2022; high boxes SC9 03S, low no boxes SJ8 29C.

MJG-MXX series regular white plates followed the MAA-MJF-suffix Olympic plates.

Low: 001 MJG 2014-06-13 E. Morgan

LLL - LXX, NLL - NXX, PLL - PXX, etc., through XLL - XXX.

From E. Morgan: In mid-October, BC skipped from XRG near the end of the 15th series, to LWX near the beginning of the 16th series.

The pre-jump high was 984-XRG on 2012/11/11, and the post-jump low was 699-LWX on 2012/11/08.

And now plates ending in LWV and LWW have begun to appear (low 083-LWV on 2012/12/09), but with hologram date codes older than the LWX-Nxx out of sequence plates! (WXH through XNF confirmed with BON1/ Apr 2012; LXL through at least NLV with BOO1/ May 2012, and now LWW with BOR1/ Jul 2012.)

As of mid-Feb. 2013, the LLL to LWT in-sequence gap is being filled. Currently at: 800 LTR on 2013-03-19. 659 LXS also reported.

As of mid-Apr. 2013, E. Morgan reports BC Passenger 16th series plates have now reached and "hopped over" the out-of-sequence block from this winter. Highest spotted before the out-of-sequence block is in the LVW series.

E. Morgan reports that BC Passenger plates now have dual sticker wells. Single-well high: 865 NWT

Dual-well low: 742 NWV

LLA - LXK, NLA - NXK, PLA - PXK, etc., through XLA - XXK.

As of Jan. 2013, BC appears to have begun filling the skipped block from XRH to XXK and LLL to LWT.

Spotted on 5/14/11: Passenger 15th series 823 LLE, while 14th series was still at WKP.

061 LTF and 161 LTF also reported, as well as an LTD series. This is another mysterious out-of-sequence plate spotted on the road 7/9/11. There was a block from LLB-LLD in mid-late May (shouldn't have been on the road until later this month), and now this one which shouldn't have shown up till late August, early September.

Out of sequence low: 605 LTC spotted 2011-07-21 by E. Morgan

Out of sequence suffixes LTC, LTD, LTE and LTF all spotted.

More from E. Morgan: Out of sequence low: 080 LTC, Abbotsford Out of sequence high: 713 LTF, Chilliwack Out of sequence block issued primarily in the Fraser Valley (Abbotsford - Mission - Chilliwack) throughout July and August 2011. Regular sequence plates in neighboring Langley have now overtaken the out of sequence block, making further low and high sightings within it impossible.

BC appears to have skipped MLA-MXK, despite those plates not being used for Olympics passenger plates.

From E. Morgan: VLA-VXK appear to have been skipped, despite the fact Veterans' plates won't start using this serial block for another 96 to 102 years at their current rate of issuance.

LAL - LKX, MAL - MKX (early M series plates were used for Olympic), NAL - NKX, etc., through XAL - XKX.

BC passenger plates began using 3M reflective sheeting with a security/ date code hologram, somewhere between 042 TAN and 114 TAN in January 2011.

Non-Hologram high: 066 TAN

Hologram low: 095 TAN

Instead of going to the 13th series, British Columbia jumped to the 14th series in the system, which should not have come into use until 2014, however, the 13th series began to appear as a concurrent issue. See notes at the top of the page for sequence of issue.

As with the 13th series, VAL through VKX have been skipped as they're reserved for Veterans' passenger plates.

More from E. Morgan: 875 XKW to 924 XKW recently issued in Aldergrove, BC. Non-hologram high: 055 TAN, also in Aldergrove which issued 000 to 074 TAN (I've seen up to 073 TAN in traffic but couldn't verify hologram or lack thereof.) Hologram low: 103 TAN, issued somewhere in the Abbotsford area. The agent location of the box containing 075 to 099 TAN is still unknown - none of these plates have been seen by me as yet.

The current high was spotted 6/21/12, with a natural 2013 expiry. Like the XKK series, these seem to have been withheld and only recently issued.

LAA - LKK, NAA - NKK, PAA - PKK, etc., through XAA - XKK.

This high is the last possible plate in the 13th series.

The series progressed from TKK to WAA since the letter U is not used, and the V series is used for Veteran.

From E. Morgan: XKK with November 2012 natural expiry with no sheeting hologram spotted on a newer rental car. This should have been a mid to late 2011 natural if it was issued in sequence. There were numerous high XKJ and low LJL plates but this was the first and only XKK observation, suggesting the series was held back for some reason.

ALL - AXX, BLL - BXX, CLL - CXX, etc., through KLL - KXX.

Upon reaching 999 KXX, the next series should begin at 000 LAA if BC follows the pattern. See the notes at the top of the page for more information regarding the sequence of issue.

ALA - AXK, BLA - BXK, CLA - CXK, etc., through KLA - KXK.

The current high is the last possible plate in the 11th series.

AAL - AKX, BAL - BKX, CAL - CKX, etc., through KAL - KKX.

The current high is the last possible plate in the 10th series.

Suffixes: AAA - AKK, BAA - BKK, CAA - CKK, etc., through KAA - KKJ.

007 AAA reported as a low. KKJ is the last possible combination in the 1st series since KKK was not used.

Low: 006 AAA 2014-09-25 Milan Kenjalo

ALA - AXK, BLA - BXK, CLA - CXK, etc., through KLA - KXK.

This is the very last three-letter three-number plate, and is still on the road 11 years later.

ALL - AXX, BLL - BXX, CLL - CXX, etc., through KLL - KXX.

The current high is the last possible 7th series plate.

AAL - AKX, BAL - BKX, CAL - CKX, etc., through KAL - KKX.

AAA - AKK, BAA - BKK, CAA - CKK, etc., through KAA - KKJ.

LAL - LKX, MAL - MKX, NAL - NKX, etc., through XAL - XKX.

LLL - LXX, MLL - MXX, NLL - NXX , etc., through XXL - XXX.

LLA - LXK, MLA - MXK, NLA - NXK, etc., through XLA - XXK.

Prefixes: LAA - LKK, MAA - MKK, NAA - NKK, etc., through XAA - XKK.

David Allyn Brown spotted the fourth plate issued, LAA-003, in April 2010.

Career Consular Officer is one of five new series of white on red foreign representative plates introduced in 2008.

Diplomatic Representative Level: DL 000A (low DL 001A observed by Milan Kenjalo)

Career Consular Officer: see History tab for observation details

Honorary Consular Officer: tracked separately on this website

Consular Staff: CS 099A 2014-08-26 Paul Breland

Special Representative: SR 012A

Earlier-skipped B10 - B39 series followed B59 in 2005. These series also saw the introduction of dual sticker wells in 2013; single-well high B27-469, dual-well low B27-489.

When and where did Waldale dies start?

Finally using Waldale dies. It took nearly 5 years to use up the stockpile of Astrographics plates of this type. When and where did this change take place?

B6 series reserved for Collector multi-vehicle category. These plates allow owners of multiple collector vehicles to use ONE number plate/pair for all, floating to whichever vehicle they drive at any particular moment.

Since mid-1990s features five numbers and suffix letter progression V, W, B, C, D, U*, J, K and L to present.

*only the remainder of the U series not used by earlier Olympic Commercial Trailer plates.

Formerly renewed with date stickers but switched to single blue/white permanent "NON-EXP" sticker in August 2006, followed by no stickers at all since 2022. Plate embossing changed to a dual sticker well by 3441 4D which disappeared for good between 1813 8K and 6304 4K.

Holograms appear in the reflective sheeting on post-2011 plates; non-hologram high: 9649 6C, hologram low: 9915 3C.

Small 5" x 8" plate, for test-driving motorcycles and trailers.

Series started in 1985 at F6-6000 and ran to F7-0999 in 1989. F6-6373 reported as a low.

A0-0000 series exhausted, new series G0-0000 now being issued.

E. Morgan reports Farm Truck plates now have a hologram. G5-4568 had BON1; G5-2779 had no hologram.

Replaced with the white on red plates in 2008.

Honorary Consular Officer is one of five new series of white on red foreign representative plates introduced in 2008.

Diplomatic Representative Level: DL 000A (low DL 001A observed by Milan Kenjalo)

Career Consular Officer: tracked separately on this website

Honorary Consular Officer: HC 000A format, see History tab for observation details

Consular Staff: CS 099A 2014-08-26 Paul Breland

Special Representative: SR 012A

Used on vehicles for construction, such as Bobcats, backhoes, and steamrollers. Sheeting on newer plates includes holograms.

In 1989, the current series (no longer quarterly) commenced at T0-0000 and has been issued sequentially.

EXTREMELY rare - the current high is only the 1128th plate of this type issued in BC since 1985.

BC motorcycle licence plates measure 5 x 8" and were redesigned to the current style in 2011 somewhere between S5 6609 and S59021. Updated design features the sunset graphic, larger dies, dual sticker boxes and no space between digits.

Single-letter prefixes used in the 21st century were E, K, L, S, U, W, Y, Z and J. The letter was moved to 5th position in 2023 starting with A.

This type replaces the former ATV plate listed above. There are two versions of the new ORV plate. One is an actual plate while the other is a sticker that is applied to a vehicle that is not set up for displaying a plate. The high shown above is for the PLATE type.

Sticker high: 0C3617 2015-10-27 Nicholas Pescod

Small plate for buses, taxis etc, replaced former Motor Carrier permit in 2005.

Passenger Carrier plates have recently been expanded to cover more limos and party buses.

The current BC Apportioned licence plate series has been issued in pairs since 1989 starting at P0 0001. After 21 years with the P prefix, the letter was moved to suffix with the 0000 0P format in 2010.

Sticker box was originally the single long traditional BC style until 2011 when it randomly moved between a double well (one for day sticker, the other for month/year sticker) and then back to single well. We gave up documenting the change points because no meaningful pattern ever emerged. BC no longer uses licence plate stickers after May 2022 and the well (s) disappeared for good at some point between 7124 9P and 7629 6P.

BC is one of just four remaining provinces (along with Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick) still issuing IRP plates in pairs.

Used to road test unlicensed vehicles brought in to a repair garage for servicing.

Used on ATVs, golf carts, and snowmobiles that are to be driven on or across a public road. Series following AT 9999 was 00000 X. See also Off Road Vehicle.

Waldale dies. Changed from Astrographics to Waldale dies somewhere between 00 350X and 03635 X.

Astrographics high - 01 874X 2010-09-05 E. Morgan

Waldale low - 03602 X 2010-09-21 E. Morgan

For 1 to 14 days, paper permit affixed to rear window, but now Temporary permits can now be good for up to 20 days. This started somewhere before 5G7A6E. Progresses sequentially (1A, 1B, 1C, etc), as opposed to regular BC plates where numbers always change before letters regardless of placement.

Handwritten Temp high: 0M8J5E 2016-07-17 Paul Breland

It appears that Temporary Permits do not use I, O, and Z, but Q, U and Y are used.

Follows TF, TG, TH prefix blocks.

Waldale dies. LF 0964 spotted on 7/18/2008 with Astrographics dies.

TR series is used up, TS is now used.

Adriaan Bergink reports that Waldale dies seem to have started at 0000 GG. The truck series began at 0000 MA and went through 9999 YY, and then to 0000 AA and up. Andy DeCeunynck reports that the Waldale appear to start around 7000 GF.

This Truck series is nearly used up. Only LS and LT suffixes are left, but the current high in the series is 9988 LR. The last plate should be 9999 LT, but no LS or LT series plates have been reported yet.

The series has now continued at AL 0000, which likely indicates that Olympic Truck, which started at AA 0000, will continue through AK 9999. E. Morgan confirms AL 0001.

All AM and AN series reported so far had a single sticker well, yet some AL series had a double sticker well like the Olympic plates. AL 8433 had a single well, but AL 7432 had a double well. All AR, AS, AV, AW, AX, and AY series so far have a single well. AT was skipped because it was already used for Restricted plates. It was reported that BC was skipped because it is used on sample plates and Vintage Motorcycle, but BC 2445 was spotted on 2009-06-06 by Plate Finder Number One. BT was used, but BS appears to have been skipped. BJ also seems to have been skipped.

Hologram change (same as Pass.) changed between DE 4960 and DE 5058.

DM skipped, as it's already used for Motorcycle & Trailer Dealer plates.

Single-well high: FC 7479

Dual-well low: FD 0297

E. Morgan reports BC truck plates appear to have skipped ahead from FJ to HA prefix. Nothing spotted yet from FK to GY.

Pre-jump high: FJ 3970

Post-jump low: HA 0000

Update from E. Morgan: Everything spotted so far in the FJ 39xx and HA 00xx series have been only on Translink buses.

BC truck plates in the FJ 39xx and HA 00xx series have also been spotted on maintenance vehicles belonging to the University Of British Columbia. Pre-jump high FJ 3999 on a UBC maintenance van on 12/13/13.

EY- appears to have been skipped in December 2012, but DY- was issued in November 2011 and HY- is appearing now.

Artwork updated with "TRAILER" along top starting at WAA; prior issues said only "Beautiful British Columbia".

Waldale dies started in 2003 between UCT and UCW along with UCK-series outlier observed with new dies. Prior Astrographics dies confirmed as high as UCR.

Progression: The end letter advances before the number, so the series began at UAA-00A, and worked up through UAA-00B, UAA-00C, and so on.

Thanks to "bcpl8s" website for sharing some of these data.

Introduced in 1966 for motorcycles at least 30 years of age or older. All plates have BC prefix and three-digits, very rare type.

The BC Parks plates went on sale January 29, 2017 at an inital cost of $50, and $40 on renewal. They are available only to vehicles that would otherwise get passenger plates. No motorcycle version is available.

The BC Parks plates went on sale January 29, 2017 at an inital cost of $50, and $40 on renewal. They are available only to vehicles that would otherwise get passenger plates. No motorcycle version is available.

The BC Parks Purcell Mountains plates went on sale January 29, 2017 at an initial cost of $50, and $40 on renewal. They are available only to vehicles that would otherwise get passenger plates, no motorcycle version is available.

Numbering moved to RP000A+ in 2023 after the original PK000A to PV999X range was exhausted.

Special plates celebrating the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver went on sale April 16, 2007. The mountain design depicts Garabaldi Park, between Vancouver and Whistler, and slogan "The Best Place on Earth" appears along the top. Passenger series started at 000 MAA, Farm Truck (G9-0000), Motorcycle (V2-0000), Utility Trailer (UYM-00A), and Commercial Trailer (0000-0U). The initial fee was $35 with annual renewal price of $25. Olympic plates could not be personalized and were discontinued after Dec. 31, 2010.

Low: 009 MAA 2014-08-29 Milan Kenjalo

Official Olympics vehicles used the 100 MFA to MFF series for cars and AD 3100 to AD 35xx for trucks and vans. These plates were to be off the roads after the Paralympics.

Started at G9-0000.

AA 0006 reported as a low by Jeff Banerd.

New type November 2016.

Passenger car licence plates reserved for qualified BC Veterans were introduced in June 2004 starting at 000 VAA. The Veteran plate program expanded on 9/1/12 to include motorists who are currently serving in the military, not just those who have completed their service.

V 00005 reported as a low.

V 02263 was reported in 2007 by Adriaan Bergink, but it must have been issued out of sequence.

According to David Allyn Brown, this series was created in response to complaints about the original Veteran series being limited to passenger cars. Veteran truck plates started at LV in 2005 which was followed by LT. Additional plates will be available in the LW and LX suffixes, according to a B.C. Plates web site.