AVAILABILITY OF CANADIAN LICENSE PLATES TO COLLECTORS

British Columbia

The first two porcelain plates, because of the material they were made of, are much more available than the flat tins of 15, 16 and 17.  Most of the early BC plates up to the early 40s are harder to find than their registration figures would suggest because of the scrap metal drives that were popular in WW2.  The very damp climate of BC cause most of the early issues to rust away and made very nice examples hard to find.  After WW2 the BC issues are easier to find.

Tough paint years: '15, '16, '17, '18*, '26*, '35.
Singles: ??

Alberta

The first plate, 1912 is an extreme rarity, and it is not known why not more than perhaps a couple dozen examples have turned up.  The following '13 porcelain, and the flat tin plates, '14 and '15 are also rare plates.  The 1916 is also challenging but a number of unissued 1917 plates with multiple nail holes are around, used as roof shingles (!).  Most of the embossed years from 1918 on up do not present a significant challenge and are about as rare as you might expect from the registration figures.

Tough paint years: ??
Singles: ??

Saskatchewan

The first porcelain plates and flat tins are all quite difficult to find.  The multi-year 1919 base-plates are very difficult to find in nice condition as they were intended for several years of use.  From 1923 onwards, the plates are more obtainable.  The dry climate of Sask ensured most survived well.  The extensive sun might have caused some issues to fade.

Tough paint years: '16, '17, '32, '37, '64-'66.
Singles: 12-14, 15-17, 43, 45-47, 52-54

Manitoba

The 1911 is a challenging issue to find.  The 1912 to 14 porcelain issues are much more available and, like the BC porcelains, seemed to have survived in larger numbers.  Many have been dug up.  The '15 and '16 wire rim tin plates and flat tin '17 are challenging.  The '18, because it was a two year plate, is difficult to find in better condition.  From 1920 on up, most years are readily available to the casual collector.  The multi-year base-plates up to the 50s may present some challenges (insofar as locating pristine examples) but the registration figures were sufficiently high to ensure they aren't rare items.

Tough Paint Years: '15*, '16, '17, '20.
Singles: '45 - '49;  '88 - '96.

Ontario

Higher registration figures than any other province have made this province the easiest to collect.  However the first issue leather plate (1903) is one of the rarest Canadian plates known with less than a dozen surviving example.  The two succeeding leather plates are also tough, particularly the one which has "ONTARIO" spelled out.  The 1911 porcelain is much more available.  The flat tins with the wire rim from 1912 to 16 are available but most examples are rough.  Nice examples are very difficult to come by.  The flat tin plates from 1917-20 are much easier to find in nice condition, and make a fine display.  From 1921 on, all the embossed tin plates are easy to collect, however a lot of years did tend to rust easily.  Suprisingly, today's graphic Ontario plate is more difficult than most provinces because of the tight regulations.  Most of them are turned back to the issuing office.

Tough paint years: '12, '13*, '15*, '16, '22, '26, '29, '32, '37, '38, '47*
Singles: '03 leather, '43, '45 - '47.

Quebec

Again, higher registration figures have made this province easier to collect, however beware of the early fiberboard issues.  In the earliest days, the registration figures were low, and the fiberboards simply didn't survive in great numbers for obvious reasons.  The fiberboards up to 1917 are all challenging.  The issues from 1918 to 1923 are easier but it is still challenging to find nice ones.  The 1924 and '44 are the easiest issues and were also better made.  None of the embossed tins from 1925 up present any formidable obstacle however there are few tough paint years to watch out for.

Tough paint years: most fiberboard years, '28, '30, '31*, '32, '42, '47, '50.
Singles: '45 - '49.

New Brunswick

New Brunswick had a longer run of porcelain plates than any other province making them extremely popular with collectors today.  The first two issues, '11 and '12 are especially challenging.  The '13 and '14 are easier but still challenging.  It gets easier with '15 through '17 which are available to the average collector.  The flat tins from '18 to '21 are desirable but not as desirable as those from other provinces since they lack a beautiful crest design.  From 1922 onwards, the plates are suprisingly available despite the low registration figures.  The New Brunswickers were rather diligent in saving their old plates it seems as runs were commonly found in barns.  Aside for a few tough paint years, none of the years from that date forward should present a challenge.  There are a lot of mint unissued 1928s, as well as most years in the 50s.  The climate wasn't all that bad on most issues due to the inland population away from the salty air. The red plates of the 60s had a great tendency to fade, so nice bright red examples are challenging.

Tough paint years: '19, '21, '23, '24*, '29, '30, 32*, '36, '38, '42, '47, '63-'68.
Singles: '42 - '47, '62 - '68.

Nova Scotia

Since Nova Scotia had owner-provided plates until 1918, these are quite common, in various styles.  Some of them are crudely made so one should be careful as to their authenticity.  Most Nova Scotia plates are more readily available than their registration figures would suggest but finding nice example will be met with a lot of frustration.  The salty air and moist climate caused most issues to turn to rust.  The first two years are very difficult to find in nice condition.  The 1920 and 21 are also challenging.  Most years in the 20s right up to 1950 present their own challenges.  Today's plate is now suprisingly difficult because of the very tight regulations regarding their issue.  Most of them have to be turned in, and they are only issued as singles.

Tough paint years:  Almost everything pre 1951, especially: '18, '19, '22, '25*, '30, '34, '35*, '41, '46, '47, '49, '50.
Singles: '98 - date

PEI

The registration figures alone tell you this is going to be a challenging province to collect.  The first issues up to the 1918 flat tin are virtually non-existant to most collectors.  Most runs begin with the 1919 porcelain but this too is a challenging plate to find as less than 1000 sets were made.  The issues of the 20s are all difficult to find, particular in nice condition.  Of particular note is the "SEEDS POTATOES FOXES" issue of 1928.  It gets easier in the 30s, but again low registration figures don't make it a cake walk.  The climate was pretty rough on most issues up to the early 50s. From that point forward, the plates are more available in better condition, with some small quantities of mint unissued leftovers.  There are many unissued leftover plates, non-passenger (including motorcycle) available from the 1970s.  The current issues are not as tightly regulated as they are in NS and Ontario, and are attractive because of their graphics.

Tough paint years: '21, '24, '31*, '33, '43, '47, '48, '58, '59, '61.
Singles: '42-'45, '64, '65, '81 - date.

Newfoundland

The earliest Nfld plate are the most challenging of all the provinces outside of the territories.  The issues up to 1925 are almost non-existant (none are known for 1921).  The registration figures certainly tell you that any pre-confederation (1949) is going to be difficult to collect.  By the 50s the registration figures had caught up to PEI and are about as available as PEI issues.  They become much more available in the 60s and beyond.  The climate was also very rough on most issues.  The motorcycle plates are all difficult to find, and Nfld ranks as the hardest province in this area.

Tough Paint years: '26, '28, '45, '57.
Singles: Since 1997.

NWT & Nunavut

A very challenging jurisdiction, perhaps it is a blessing that they didn't begin to issue plates until 1941.  But make no mistake about it, all the 1940s NWT plates are all extremely rare.  Even most of the 50s can be difficult to find, however a few mint unissued left-over plates were found for 1953 and 58.  The bright summer-long sun has caused a lot of these orange/black issues to fade, particularly the 1959.  However due to the extremely dry climate, rust isn't a problem.  The 60s are more available but it's not until you get to the polar bear plate that things start to become easy.  The novel shape is what makes this plate one of the most popular among collectors.  Because of this, it was overproduced and served as a source of revenue from tourists.  There are many of them around that are mint and unissued and are a lot more common than the registration figures would suggest.

Tough paint years: '59, '60, '64.
Singles: since early 1990s.

The Nunavut plate has just come out, and already there are far more collectors out there than available plates.  Short of a trip up there, it is unlikely you will see one on the road.  The samples on the other hand are extremely common and the motor vehicle department seems to be stamping them out as fast as they can sell them.

Yukon

A very challenging jurisdiction for obvious reasons.  Only a small handful of the flat tin plates issued before 1924 are known.  This is also true for a lot of the years in the 20s.  Some mint unissued left-overs have turned up for certain years in the 30s and 40s, but they are all difficult to collect today.  Also extremely popular are the early miner issues before 1959.  All are very difficult to find.  It gets a lot easier from the early 60s to date, since the number of collectors actively saving them had increased their survival rate.  There is a ton of mint-unissued leftovers for the years from 1975 to the early 80s.  Like the NWT, the climate was pretty tame on the early issues, making the condition not all that challenging when you can find them.

Tough paint years: 1932, ??
Singles: since 1991 ??