Vehicle Registration Plates of Canada - Vanity and Specialty Plates

Vanity and Specialty Plates

In each province but Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec, motorists are given the option of extra-cost vanity plates (also known as "personalized" or "prestige" plates), which are licence plates with a custom serial (sequence of letters and/or numbers). Generally vanity plates are not permitted to have profane or obscene messages on them, although standards vary widely among issuing jurisdictions as to what constitutes an unacceptable message.

In some jurisdictions, vehicle owners may also pay extra for specialty plates. With these, the plate serial is chosen by the licensing agency—as with regular plates—but the owners select a plate design that is different from the normal licence plate. For example, an alumnus or student of an area university might purchase a plate with the school's logo, or an outdoorsman might decide to pay extra for a plate depicting a nature scene. A portion of the extra cost of these licence plates often ends up as a donation for a related school or non-profit organization. In 1996 the province of Ontario issued an optional "Star Trek" licence plate. It was discontinued in the early 2000s. Some jurisdictions allow for some or all of their specialty plates to also be vanity plates, usually for an additional fee on top of the cost of the plate.

Veterans are allowed to have a special licence plate.

In addition, provinces may provide commemorative plates as a standard issue. A number of provinces issued plates recognizing the 1967 centennial of the Canadian Confederation during that year. Several provinces have issued plates commemorating milestones in their own province. Provinces often issue plates with their motto or slogan, such as Quebec's "Je me souviens", British Columbia's "Beautiful British Columbia." or Ontario's "Yours To Discover". These are arguably also general commemoratives. Saskatchewan's "Land of Living Skies" slogan may be interpreted as a reference to the province's drastically changing weather within minutes or a nod to the northern lights, aurora borealis.

All provinces offer specialized licence plates for licensed amateur radio operators, in many cases at no extra charge or at a discount compared to standard vanity plates. The owner's radio call sign is used instead of a standard-issue serial.

Ontario considered issuing purple-on-pink licence plates for vehicles where an ignition interlock system had been installed, but never went through with the plan.

In preparation for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games held in Vancouver, the Province of British Columbia and the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia issued special "Olympic" registration plates. The special plates feature an image of the mountain peaks of Garibaldi Provincial park as the background, with the Vancouver 2010 logo in the foreground between the letter and number groups of the registration plate. The plates were optional, requiring an initial fee of $35.00, as well as a yearly renewal fee of $25.00 per year. These "Olympic Plates" were only offered until December 31, 2010, whereby owners could continue to display them on their vehicle as they are an official provincial licence plate.