| 2010-01-19 |
24 days out from the Opening Ceremoies for the Olympics and ICBC announced that they have now sold 175,000 of the Winter Games plates (although, based on the regional breakdown the Corporation provided, the number appears to be closer to 178,000)! To read more about it, Click
here. |
| 2010-01-05 |
We now have a slightly better scan of the 2011 decal on a new issue (13th series) plate, just Click here. |
| 2010-01-03 |
The first "MJA" plate in the Olympic series was spotted on the road today. There is a hypothesis that the end of the series will occur at 999-MJA, as it was initially thought that only 100,000 of the plates would be sold over the course of the program (the last official announcement was that over 160,000 plates had been issued). Accordingly, it will be interesting to see how continued demand is to be met or if the program will be brought to an end prior to its scheduled December 31, 2010, close. Stay tuned ... |
| 2010-01-03 |
Today, passenger plate no. 259-WAC was spotted on the roads of the Lower Mainland. As the previous high in this, the 13th series of the "Flag" graphic (i.e. LAA to XKK) was in the "TKF" range, it can now be deduced that the entire bloc of "V" plates (i.e. VAA - VXX) has been reserved for the Veteran base. This represents a bloc of approximately 400,000 plates, and with only 31,000 passenger plates having been issued to date, and the annual number of plates being assigned equaling about 1,000/year, it is estimated that the Corporation has a sufficient number of combinations for the next 369 years. |
| 2009-12-12 |
Thanks to the assistance and knowledge of local collector Ron Garay, we have been able to undertake an extensive revision of the Trailer license plate pages. The end result is that these pages now better reflect the lineage of Trailer plates over the past 86 years. To see the changes, Click
here. |
| 2009-12-06 |
Thirty years ago today, the first personalised license plate ("HEALEY") was issued to Richard Rogers of White Rock by then Minister of Transportation Alex Fraser in Victoria. |
| 2009-12-02 |
SPOILER
ALERT! It is that time of the year again and the first 2011 registration decal has been spotted on the roads! We had heard rumours that the colour scheme for 2011 was to incorporate a "mustard" yellow, but from the looks of the image we just received from the field maybe "pumpkin" would have been more appropriate. To see more, Click
here (NOTE: it is hoped that a scan of the actual decal can be provided early in the New Year). |
| 2009-11-10 |
The
Provincial Government announced that a new framework
is to be implemented that will require all Off-Road
Vehicle (ORV) riders using Crown land to obtain
a one-time registration with a licence plate for
their machines. While the details are to be worked
out over the next two years, in order to read a
little more about it, Click
here. |
| 2009-11-08 |
Thanks
to some enthusiastic plate spotters, we were able
to obtain some photos of Prince Charles and the
Duchess of Cornwall on their recent visit to Victoria.
To see the plates used on the car chauffeuring them
around the capital, Click
here. |
| 2009-10-30 |
With
the launch of the Olympic Torch Relay, we have been
dutifully deciphering the plates that are being
used on the convoy vehicles supporting the relay.
To read more about it, Click
here. |
| 2009-10-12 |
Our
favourite plate spotter has noticed that the decals
being issued to Commercial Trailers have been slightly
modified (and, for reasons unknown, continue to
be issued with date decals). To see the new decal,
Click
here. |
| 2009-09-15 |
Yes,
it was another slow summer, but to break the doldrums
comes the latest announcement from ICBC on sales
of the Olympic plates. With 150 days to go until
the opening ceremony, 162,000 plates have now been
sold. To read more about it, Click
here. |
| 2009-06-26 |
Today
we learned that it now takes eight months to sell
20,000 Olympic plates (remember the heady days of
2007 when that number could be moved in 8 weeks!),
as ICBC finally announced today that they have hit
the 150,000 plateau. To read more about it, Click
here. |
| 2009-04-31 |
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| 2009-03-28 |
The
25th Annual Pacific Northwest Regional License Plate
Meet was held today, as always, in Burnaby. Fun
was had by all who attended and we are looking forward
to next year, which is tentatively scheduled for
March 27, 2010. To see the group picture, Click
here. |
| 2009-02-15 |
We
have updated some of the information contained on
the passenger plate section related to the period
1913-14. Click
here. |
| 2009-02-12 |
ICBC
quietly announced that the Olympic base has surpassed
140,000 sets as part of a separate announcement
that the Corporation will be allotting approximately
75% of its Winter Games ticket allocation as a reward
to customers. To read more, Click
here. |
| 2009-02-04 |
Unexpected
news was received today regarding a re-design of
the Lieutenant Governor's license plate. Thanks
to Ernie MacAulay for bringing this to our attention,
and to read more about it, Click
here. |
| 2008-10-23 |
It
seems that sales of the Olympic plates are still
chugging along 18 months into the program with ICBC
announcing today that 130,000 plates have now been
issued. To mark the occasion, the Corporation has
launched a new web site linking sales of the plates
to support for athletes, and announced a new contest
for plate holders. To read more, Click
here. |
| 2008-10-14 |
SPOILER
ALERT! I know that for many of us one of the highlights
of the year end is not Christmas or the New Year's
holidays, but spotting the new registration decals
for the forthcoming year to see what colour scheme
ICBC has opted for. Well, this year BCpl8s.ca is
proud to bring you an advance viewing of the 2010
decals! To see more, Click
here. |
| 2008-10-13 |
"Issuing
Mayhem Continues to Afflict ICBC!" Click
here. |
| 2008-08-08 |
In
honour of today's date (and to fill some space in
the "news" section during these dog days
of summer), I thought I would share with you my
own lucky Olympic plate numbers: Click
here. |
| 2008-07-21 |
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| 2008-07-10 |
We
here at BCpl8s.ca were recently asked by the National
Post to contribute some thoughts on Alberta's tepid,
yet still somewhat populist attempt to come up with
a new license plate design. Yes, we felt like carpetbaggers
commenting on Alberta's plates from our perch here
in the sunny Okanagan, but any publicity is good
publicity - especially when it is through the national
media. To read the column, Click
here. |
| 2008-06-06 |
The
Vancouver Sun did an excellent write-up on the hobby
and featured local White Rock collector Bill Hobbis;
Mike Barnsley (the great-grandson of John Barnsley),
and a small acknowledgement of the work of we here
at BCpl8s.ca. To read John Mackie's column, just
Click
here. |
| 2008-05-26 |
For
fans of the Registration Data Archive, we here at
BCpl8s.ca are proud to announce that a digitization
of the available records has recently commenced,
and will result in .pdf of copies of those years
for which we have information becoming available
for free download directly from our site. While
this process is expected to take a few weeks, certain
years are already available, just Click
here. |
| 2008-05-24 |
An
emerging mystery has been uncovered in relation
to the new Truck series, specifically the mysterious
disappearance of the separated decal box found on
the early plates in this series! For reasons as
yet unknown, the new Truck series has reverted to
a single decal box! To find out more, Click
here. |
| 2008-05-17 |
After
much delay, we here at BCpl8s.ca finally did some
investigative work into those permanent, "non-expiry"
decals that have been spotted on the back of Commercial
Trailer license plates since 2006. To see the fruits
of our labours, simply Click
here. |
| 2008-05-12 |
Almost
a month after quietly announcing the sale of the
100,000 Winter Games license plate, ICBC has now
issued a formal press release and is making a much
bigger occasion of the event. To read the latest,
Click here. |
| 2008-04-29 |
Another
new entry has been added on the Links page, this
time for Eric Taylor's fantastic page on the plates
from BC's porcelain era (i.e. 1913-14). To see Eric's
(and Dave Hollins') historical handiwork, Click
here. |
| 2008-04-16 |
It
is not often that one of these comes along, but
an update to the Links page has been made to reflect
the site that Woody1778 has created to showcase
his collection of BC plates (amongst others), and
to convey a little plate history at the same time
- that Woody is from Edmonton won't be held against
him! To see his handiwork, Click
here. |
| 2008-04-09 |
Well,
they have done it! Without much fanfare, ICBC has
posted on their web site that the 100,000 Olympic
Winter Games plates has now been sold - almost one
year to the day after being released. To read more
about it, Click here. |
| 2008-04-08 |
Tabernacle!
The results for ALPCA's 2007 "Best License
Plate Award" have been released and British
Columbia's 2010 Winter Games optional base plate
finished third. To see how the voting shaked out,
Click here. |
| 2008-04-01 |
A
major upgrade to the Keytags page was made possible
today by Pierre Delacote who has graciously forwarded
images of his collection. To see the run from 1946
to the present, simply Click
here. |
| 2008-03-29 |
The
24th Annual Pacific Northwest Regional License Plate
Meet was held today, as always, in Burnaby. Fun
was had by all who attended and we are looking forward
to the twenty-fifth edition tentatively scheduled
for March 28, 2009. To see the group picture, Click
here. |
| 2008-03-08 |
One
of our intrepid plate spotters out in the field
(I won't say where), came across a "first issue"
and managed to click an incredibly high quality
shot of the plate! Click
here to see the plate (Honorary Consular Officer
"HC-001A"), and thanks to John Roberts
for sending in the photo! |
| 2008-03-03 |
ICBC
announced today that 90,000 Olympic Winter Games
have now been sold, and the race is on to reach
100,000 before the end of April. To read more about
it, Click here. |
| 2008-02-20 |
Although
ICBC has made no formal announcement to mark the
occasion, the Truck base has been exhausted and
the series reversed to the "AA-0000" format,
and commencing at "AL-0000". This likely
means that "AA-0000" to "AK-9999"
has been reserved for the Olympic Truck base. To
read more about it, Click
here. |
| 2008-02-04 |
The
nominations for ALPCA's 2007 "Best License
Plate Award" have been released and the 2010
Winter Games optional base plate has made the cut
along with other Canadian plates from Newfoundland
and Prince Edward Island. To read about it, Click
here. |
| 2008-01-27 |
|
| 2008-01-23 |
ICBC
announced today that 80,000 Olympic Winter Games
have now been sold, to read more about it, Click
here. |
| 2008-01-20 |
Apart
from today being my Dad's 61st birthday (Aghast!),
local collector Ron Garay paid a visit to BCpl8s.ca
Headquarters with some of the gems of his collection
including a series of "Repeating Numbers",
which can be seen
here, as well as other plates that plugged some
holes on the following pages: Trailer;
Passenger;
Dealer; and Reciprocity. |
| 2008-01-09 |
Another
run has been added under the "Great BC Plate
Runs!" section of the site, and includes a
total of 25 plates numbered "1224" from
the years 1937 to 1964 (with only the Totem series
years missing - as per usual). To see the
run, Click here . |
| 2008-01-02 |
ICBC
was kind enough to forward the most recent iteration
of their "BC Licence Plate Identification Guide",
a copy of which can be accessed from the BCpl8s.ca
main page, or just Click
here. |
| 2007-12-29 |
The
Vancouver Sun ran an article on the new Consular
plates entitled "ICBC marks dignitaries red"
by Catherine Rolfsen. You can access the story here:
Vancouver
Sun (I am not sure how long this link will stay
active).
We here at BCpl8s.ca were asked to provide some
commentary for this piece, but apparently our contribution
ended up in the Editor's trash bin ... |
| 2007-11-09 |
The
Government of Alberta announces a "Consultation
on Alberta's Licence Plate", with the intent
of coming up with a new design.
While not directly relevant to BC plates, I believe
that this emerging story is important. Stay tuned
for more details. |
| 2007-09-12 |
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| 2007-08-13 |
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| 2007-07 |
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| 2007-06-12 |
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| 2007-04-11 |
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| 2006-11-06 |
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| 2004-06-02 |
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| 2004-02-29 |
100th
Anniversary of the first motor vehicle registration
in British Columbia.
The Victoria Times Colonist publishes a column entitled
"100
years of plates", featuring local collector
Rick Pilotte. |
| 2003-07-23 |
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| 2002-11 |
Waldale
Manufacturing Limited of Amherst, Nova Scotia wins
a low bid competition to manufacture British Columbia
plates for the next five years. |
| 2001-06-18 |
Three
letter/three number combinations on passenger plates
are exhausted and ICBC begins issuing plates under
the 000-AAA format. |
| 1977-08-20 |
They
Can't Get Enough on Plates - Victoria Times
Colonist. This is a reprint of a great article I came across on plate
collecting in British Columbia 30 years ago. |
