Stickers are used to extend the registration time period of a license plate.  Rather than provide the motorists with new license plates each year, it is more economical to validate their current plates with stickers.  The license plates would be replaced only when they become worn out, rusted or faded.  The sticker indicates the date of expiry.  The multi-year license plate without any stickers is called a base-plate.  Here are the dates when each province started issuing multi-year baseplates:
 

In earlier days, plates normally expired at the end of the calendar or fiscal year.  This resulted in long lineups at the licensing offices because people would wait until the last minute to renew their registration.  To ease the strain, many provinces introduced the notion of staggered registration meaning that not all motorists' license plates came up for renewal at the same time.  In most cases, a month of the year was chosen, based on some criteria such as the motorist's birthday, his/her last name, or simply when the car was registered for the first time.  The year and month may appear together on the same sticker or separate month and year stickers may be printed.  Some provinces have even gone further by specifying the day of the month.

Tabs and windshield stickers for the most part were the forerunners to the license plate sticker system.  These have been covered in the passenger runs.  Under this heading, we give coverage for passenger plates only as non-passenger types are beyond the scope of this website.

For each province we have listed all the base-plates which receive stickers.  In each case, by use of a diagram, we tell the reader where the stickers are to be placed on the base-plate.  It is also important to note whether the plates were issued as singles or in pairs and if stickers were required on both plates.  Today, most provinces only require a sticker on the rear plate for enforcement.