pre-11 leather

1910 porcelain
(not a provincial issue)

Style of 1911-16

Style of 1918-19

Style of 1920-21

Style of 1922-23, 25-27

Unique to 1924 (tough paint year)

Style of 1928-30

Style of 1932, 34

Style of 1933, 35, 36

Style of 1937-41

Style of 1942-49

Style of 1950-53

Style of 1954-56

Unique to 1957

Style of 1958-60

Style of 1962-63

Style of 1964-65

Style of 1966-68

Style of 1969-71

Style of 1972-74
(75-80 also similar)

Style of 1981-85

Style of 1986-89

Style of 1991-92

Style of 1990

Style of 1991 - date

Y2K plate - different die style

Vehicles were first officially recorded in Fredericton (the capital) in 1905, but no plates were issued.  Interestingly, this makes NB the third province, after Ontario and Quebec, to officially record motor vehicles.  The province began registering vehicles in 1908 and, up until 1910, the plates were provided by the owner.  These markers were often white on black, and made of leather, with the initials NB usually printed vertically after the serial number.  A dated 1910 porcelain plate is known to exist but it too is provided by the owner as the province did not start officially supplying plates until 1911 when annual registration took effect.  NB had a longer run of porcelain plates than any other province.  They lasted until 1917 and were in a beautiful array of colours.  They are rare, and highly prized today.

Believe it or not, NB motorists were required to drive on the left side of the road until Dec 1, 1922! This posed a challenge for neighboring Maine which always had been driving on the right!

NB issued dashboard discs (to accompany the license plates) from 1908 to about 1922. The plate number was duplicated on the disc, ensuring the plates were not illegally transferred to another vehicle. The motorist would receive the same number plates each year, provided he owned the same car.

• The first official issue was 1911.  Before that plates were provided by the owner. 

A dated 1910 porcelain issue exists, but that was owner provided.
• The '24 and '31 issues were unique since the top and bottom edges were crimped back.
• A matching windshield sticker for the front was issued from 1945-47.
• There is no dated 1986 plate since the '87 base was issued in Jan. '86 and marked to expire '03/87' in the sticker box.
• There were at least 3 distinct die types for the '87 base. Because the earliest ones rusted badly, a new manufacturer was tried (Waldale Manufacturing of Nova Scotia).  They made plates with rounder dies, which held up much better.  All of these were phased out in 1992 when the new graphic was introduced in 1991.
• Only the current graphic issued since 1991 is valid.

• 1972: New Brunswick becomes Canada's only officially bilingual province with plates to match.  Roughly 2/3 are English, 1/3 are French.

• The codes in use from '31 to '36 were taken from a 1932 Article in the St. John Telegraph.  In 1931, there were likely more codes in use than those shown.
• Low numbers (under 1000) were typically issued to VIPs on request.
• It is interesting to note in the 1991 series, 'BOO-000', a scary combination, was part of the regular series.  It was issued to a motorist in Bathurst.

Some interesting designs of dealer plates.

In the porcelain years, the dealer plates were undated but were of the same colors as the passenger plates.  This plate is 1917.

'61 Dealer.  Passenger cars received windshield stickers that year.

In 1943 and 44, windshield stickers were used for vehicles with windshields.  Trailers, tractors and motorcycles were issued small wooden plates, due to the shortage of metal!

Wooden motorcycle, light trailer and tractor plates.

Current motorcycle plate.

Because there was no front plate from 1962-68 so people had the option of displaying booster plates.  Many styles appeared.  Cities, commemorative events, safety slogans, special groups and even car dealerships all got into the act.  Most were made to conform to the provincial standard of white on red at the time.  A sampling is shown below.
 

Booster plates of 1962-68 era

Regular provincial issue	Canada's Centennial (1967)
Town issue for Sussex	City issue for St. John
Shriners	Car Dealership

Special Issues

This special issue to promote nature conservation became available to the motorist in 1998, for a $25 extra fee for a pair.  Every year an additional $5 is levied on the registration to benefit parks and wildlife.

Links

• Elsewhere on this site: Stickers on plates 1962-date,  Vehicle Registration Figures.
• nbplates.com A nicely done site covering all types of NB plates past and present.
• The New Brunswick Dept. of Transportation handles the registration of motor vehicles.