British Columbia Registration Data

Welcome to the real "meat-and-potato's" of this web-site; the section that will hopefully be the most useful to both the hardcore collector, and casual observer of British Columbia license plates. It is here that you will find all the pure stats (no analysis, or interpretation on my part) regarding the issuing of license plates since 1904.

When the Act to Regulate the Speed and Operation of Motor Vehicles on Highways was passed in 1904, Section 3 required the Superintendent of Provincial Police to issue for each registered motor vehicle a number, and to "cause the name of such owner, with his address and the number of his permit, to be entered in a book to be kept for such purpose."

This practice of issuing license plates individually from the MVBs central office in Victoria would continue to the early 1920s, after which the Branch would begin to issue license plates in blocs of varying size to sub- offices located throughout the province for distribution to motorists.

In the intervening 20 years, however, a number of "books" would be used for the purposes of recording the names, addresses and registration numbers of motorists - with most of these books now held at the Provincial Archives in Victoria. The various registers include:

Register of Permits - 1904
Image GR-0665 (Volume 1) courtesy of
Royal BC Museum, BC Archives

Registers of Motor Vehicle Permits and Licenses:
Register numbers 1-1397	(1904-1911)	GR-0665 - V.1
Register numbers 1031-1296	(1910)	GR-0665 - V.2
Register numbers 1296-1794	(1911)	GR-0665 - V.3
Register 1-1726	(to Dec. 1912)	GR-0665 - V.4
Register numbers 1-2434	(1914-1919)	GR-0665 - V.8
Register numbers 2435-2987	(1913-1919)	GR-0665 - V.10
Register numbers 2988-5436	(1916-1919)	GR-0665 - V.12
Register numbers 5437-7891	(1913-1917)	GR-0665 - V.16
Register numbers 7892-10347	(1914-1920)	GR-0665 - V.20
Register numbers 10348-12794	(1917-1920)	GR-0665 - V.22
Register numbers 12794-15243	(1917-1920)	GR-0665 - V.24
Register numbers 15244-17700	(1918-1920)	GR-0665 - V.26

Motor Cycle Licenses:
Register numbers 1-1024	(1913-1914)	GR-0665 - V.48
Register numbers 1-2485	(1914-1919)	GR-0665 - V.50

Dealer Licenses:
Register of demonstration plates	(1927-1929)	GR-0665 - V.64

Image GR-0665 (Volumes 1 & 4) courtesy
of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives

British Columbia Registration Data
1920	1921	1922	1923	1924	1925	1926	1927	1928	1929
1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939
1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979

Is technology not great? Six years after starting this section of the web site, instead of having to type these tables out, I can now simply scan the old MVB records into .pdf documents that can be uploaded to the site for your viewing convenience. In other instances, we have transcribed available records so that they are more legible:

1920	1921	1922	1923 (103 kb)	1924	1925 (104 kb)	1926	1927	1928	1929
1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939
1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945 (71 kb)	1946 (73 kb)	1947 (75 kb)	1948 (79 kb)	1949 (74 kb)
1950 (74 kb)	1951 (77 kb)	1952 (77 kb)	1953 (76 kb)	1954 (76 kb)	1955 (80 kb)	1956	1957	1958	1959
1960	1961	1962	1963	1964 (7.1 mb)	1965 (7.2 mb)	1966 (7.3 mb)	1967 (7.1 mb)	1968 (7.3 mb)	1969 (7.0 mb)
1970 (8.1 mb)	1971 (11.1 mb)	1972 (5.6 mb)	1973 (6.7 mb)	1974 (13.8 mb)	1975 (5.8 mb)	1976 (9.2 mb)	1977	1978	1979

British Columbia Licensing Data

1925 was the first year that a British Columbia Driver's License was issued, and the following information shows how many vehicles were registered, and under what types. Missing years 1973-74, and 1985-present.

1925-29	1930-34	1935-39	1940-44	1945-49
1950-54	1955-59	1960-64	1965-69	1970-74
1975-79	1980-84	1985 -89	1990-94	1995-99
2000-04	2004-09