British Columbia License Plates
Update: Adriaan Bergink reports that upon reaching 999-XXX, British Columbia will change to a new format using the AB1-23C sequence.
Letters I, O, Q, U, Y, Z are not used.
Since alpha-numeric plates were introduced in 1970, the province developed series based on a 10-character progression for no other reason than the archaic license-office rotary stamps of the day were still keyed to all-numeric plates that were the B.C. style up to that year. Hence the 10-letter "roll-over" in series progression as shown below. For the next 15 years, new bases started alternately with either L or A leading the prefixes. The 1970 base started with AAA, 1973 with LAA, 1978 with AAA, and the current (1985) base with LAA-000.
1st series (alpha-numeric): LAA - LKK, MAA - MKK, NAA - NKK, etc., through XAA - XKK.
2nd series: LLA - LXK, MLA - MXK, NLA - NXK, etc., through XLA - XXK.
3rd series: LLL - LXX, MLL - MXX, NLL - NXX , etc., through XXL - XXX.
4th series: LAL - LKX, MAL - MKX, NAL - NKX, etc., through XAL - XKX.
5th series: AAA - AKK, BAA - BKK, CAA - CKK, etc., through KAA - KKJ.
6th series: AAL - AKX, BAL - BKX, CAL - CKX, etc., through KAL - KKX.
7th series: ALL - AXX, BLL - BXX, CLL - CXX, etc., through KLL - KXX.
8th series: ALA - AXK, BLA - BXK, CLA - CXK, etc., through KLA - KXK.
9th series (numero-alpha): AAA - AKK, BAA - BKK, CAA - CKK, etc., through KAA - KKJ.
10th series: AAL - AKX, BAL - BKX, CAL - CKX, etc., through KAL - KKX.
11th series: ALA - AXK, BLA - BXK, CLA - CXK, etc., through KLA - KXK.
12th series: ALL - AXX, BLL - BXX, CLL - CXX, etc., through KLL - KXX.
13th series: LAA - LKK, NAA - NKK, PAA - PKK, etc., through XAA - XKK.
14th series: LAL - LKX, MAL - MKX, NAL - NKX, etc., through XAL - XKX.
15th series: LLA - LXK, NLA - NXK, PLA - PXK, etc., through XLA - XXK.
16th series: LLL - LXX, NLL - NXX, PLL - PXX, etc., through XLL - XXX.
As noted above, upon reaching 999-XXX, the AB1-23C format will be used.
Note: The M-prefixed numero-alpha plates are reserved for the Olympics issue, at least through MKX. It seems likely that with the out-of-sequence appearance of plates in the LAL - LKX grouping, they should be leading the 14th series, even though if it followed the pattern established in the earlier alpha-numeric issues it would be pushed to the final, or 16th, series on the list. In B.C. one never knows for sure.
The V-prefixed numero-alpha plates are reserved for Veterans.
2012-10-19 The first plate from the 16th bloc of the "Flag" graphic was spotted on the roads of Langley, BC. For those not familiar with BC's licence plate numbering system, this is the last bloc of 1,000,000 plates in the 000-AAA format which was begun in 2001, and represents plates in the 000-LLL through to 999-XXX range and, even more importantly, heralds the likely end of this format by early 2014! We have it on good authority that ICBC (who is responsible for issuing plates, will likely be switching to a 00A-AA0 format for passenger plates until "Transformation 2014" is complete and their computer systems upgraded, after which BC will likely follow the lead of its neighbours in Alberta and Washington State and introduce a 7-digit format. This information is credited to Christopher Garrish and his license plate website bcpl8s.ca
Stickers
11 - black on yellow
12 - black on magenta
13 - black on orange
14 - black on green with a couple of new modifications including the full date (i.e. "2014") and a vertically aligned "BRITISH COLUMBIA". Thanks to Adriaan Bergink for this info.
15 - black on yellow
16 - black on bright pink
17 - black on green
Thanks to <a href="http://plates.2gat123.com/">Jason DeCesare</a> for the font!