Municipalities
in Canada have issued license plates for all kinds of uses; from bicycles,
to popsicle carts, even vending machines. If there's a bylaw on the
books which requires a license to operate, chances are a license plate
or some sort of validation decal has been issued to show the licensing
fee has been paid. We shall only cover metal license plates.
The
most common license plates we see in this category are for bicycles.
In the early days bicycles were seen as a form of transportation and, therefore,
it made sense to tax them as they were part of the normal road traffic.
Today, cycling is seen more as a recreational activity, and many cyclists
would prefer to be on designated paths rather than in traffic. Of
the multitude of municipalities which did issue bicycle license plates,
it is likely that only a small handful remain today. Most cities
simply allow you to register your bike at the police station, free of charge,
on a voluntary basis. If there is any nominal fee involved, it would
probably be administered by a local bicycle club for the upkeep of trails,
and therefore no license plate would be necessary.
As
you can see, these bicycle plates have been issued in all sorts of shapes
and sizes. The earliest ones were simply brass tags, similar in style
to the familiar dog tags. Many cities had theirs made by the Bicycle
Guild of Montreal. They are the small plastic square plates on the
left. Those of French-Speaking towns often had bilingual legends.
Occasionally we see the odd slogan such as "Winnipeg Centennial" on the
1974 plate as illustrated on the left.
There
are many other uses for which license plates have been issued. When
metal tags are issued they vary widely from city to city. Shown at
right are just a few examples. The most common plates are those for
taxis and vendors. Some municipalities require license plates for
Driving School vehicles. Others require plates for local delivery
and cartage. Some even require a plate for a rickshaw, a human operated
pull cart which is popular in the East, but used here to carry tourists
around town.
