The Canadian province of Alberta first required its residents to register their motor vehicles in 1906. Registrants provided their own licence plates for display until 1912, when the province began to issue plates. Only rear plates have been required since 1992.
List of plate issues 1912 to 1915 When the first plates were issued in Alberta, a number of materials were tried. 1912 and 1913 used porcelain enameled iron, and 1914 and 1915 used thin sheet metal with silkscreened number rolled over a wire frame. Serials issued started at 1 every year, and every year the registrant could request the same number as the previous year. The 1912 plate followed the design of other provinces, but 1913 to 1915 featured the Alberta shield and year on the left side. Registration expired December 31. ImageIssuedDesignSerials issued1912white on dark blue1 to approximately 24001913white on red1 to approximately 38001914black on white1 to approximately 50001915black on yellow1 to approximately 5800
1916 to 1920 Starting with the 1916 issue, a heavier gauge of metal was used, and the text moved to the right side, saying ALTA, and the year. The 1918 plates were the first embossed plates, and 1920 had the first painted border. ImageIssuedDesignSerials issued1916dark blue on white1 to approximately 100001917black on yellow1 to approximately 220001918white on black1 to approximately 350001919black on white1 to approximately 360001920white on green1 to approximately 38000
1921 to 1924 The 1921 to 1924 issues each used several plate sizes, depending on the length of the serial. Hyphens were also used in serials for the first time. ImageIssuedDesignSerials issued1921blue on gray1 to approximately 40-0001922yellow on black1 to approximately 43-0001923white on black1 to approximately 41-0001924red on gray1 to approximately 43-000
1925 to 1936 The 1925 base was the first to feature the full province name. Six-digit serials were used for the first time in 1929. ImageIssuedDesignSerials issued1925yellow on black1 to approximately 52-0001926black on yellow1 to approximately 65-0001927black on light green1 to approximately 69-0001928white on blue1 to approximately 84-0001929black on orange1 to approximately 101-0001930white on green1 to approximately 93-0001931white on blue1 to approximately 88-0001932black on white1 to approximately 82-0001933blue on yellow1 to approximately 76-0001934red on white1 to approximately 75-0001935white on red1 to approximately 75-0001936orange on black1 to approximately 77-000
1937 to 1951 In 1937, the licence year was changed to April 1 to March 31, and continued as such until 1984. The 1940 (expiring March 31, 1941) base was the first to feature a slogan, namely "Drive Safely". This slogan was used again on the 1941 (expiring March 31, 1942) base, before the 1942 (expiring March 31, 1943) base featured "Canada", the first and thus far only Alberta base to feature the country name. Due to metal conservation for World War II, the 1943 (expiring March 31, 1944) base was revalidated until March 31, 1945, with windshield stickers. Six-digit serials were issued on each base from 1947 through 1951. ImageIssuedDesignSerials issued1937black on yellow1 to approximately 85-0001938red on white1 to approximately 85-0001939black on white1 to approximately 90-0001940black on yellow1 to approximately 94-0001941white on black1 to approximately 93-0001942white on dark blue1 to approximately 87-0001943–44black on yellow1 to approximately 96-0001945orange on black1 to approximately 95-0001946green on white1 to approximately 98-0001947white on blue1 to approximately 101-0001948black on white1 to approximately 115-0001949red on white1 to approximately 130-0001950white on blue1 to approximately 153-0001951blue on yellow1 to approximately 163-000
1952 to 1953 In 1956, Canada, the United States, and Mexico came to an agreement with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the Automobile Manufacturers Association and the National Safety Council that standardized the size for licence plates for vehicles (except those for motorcycles) at in height by in width, with standardized mounting holes. The first Alberta licence plate that complied with these standards was issued four years beforehand, in 1952.
The 1952 base was also the first reflective base, with beaded white characters on a black background. Letters were used in passenger serials for the first time: five-character serials were used, with a single letter in the third and later the second position. The letter Q was not used, while the letters I and O were at a smaller size to prevent confusion with the numbers 1 and 0.
Passenger and dealer plates on this base were revalidated for 1953 with black-on-aluminum "53" tabs. Other vehicle types, however, received new plates for 1953, with dark blue characters on a white background. ImageIssuedDesignSerial formatSerials issued1952–53white on black12A3410A10 to 99Z991A2341B100 to approximately 9F999
1954 to 1972 Two-letter series were introduced in 1954, with each series initially followed by three digits. In 1960, the number of digits increased to four, with each series running from 0001 to 9000. From 1964 through 1972, only B, C, E, H, J, K, L, N, R, T, X and Z were used as the first letter, with four such letters allocated each year. The 1967 base commemorated the centennial of Canadian Confederation. ImageIssuedDesignSerial formatSerials issued1954black on orangeAB 123EE 101 to ZZ 950, with gaps1955yellow on blueAB-123BB-101 to ZM-950, with gaps1956red on whiteAB 123unknown1957blue on whiteunknown1958black on yellowunknown1959green on whiteunknown1960white on redAB 1234BA 0001 to approximately DZ 19001961blue on yellowFA 0001 to JZ 90001962white on greenKA 0001 to approximately RD 36001963black on whiteTA 0001 to approximately ZH 84001964white on blueAB-12-34BA-00-01 to approximately HL-62-001965red on whiteJA-00-01 to approximately NK-84-001966blue on whiteRA-00-01 to approximately ZL-76-001967green on whiteBA-00-01 to approximately HR-95-001968white on greenJA-00-01 to approximately NZ-36-001969yellow on blackRA-00-01 to approximately ZT-25-001970white on blueBA-00-01 to approximately HZ-46-001971white on greenJA-00-01 to approximately NX-78-001972white on blueRA-00-01 to ZZ-90-00
1973 to 1983 The 1973–74 base used the AB-12-34 serial format, with B, C, E, H, K and L used as the first letter. It was also the first base to feature the "Wild Rose Country" slogan, which remains in use today.
The 1975–84 base introduced the ABC-123 serial format, which provided many more combinations. However, only 15 letters were used at first (B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, N, P, R, T, V and X), while others were later used only as the first letter (with some exceptions), and the overall order of issuance was not strictly alphabetical. Most plates on this base were manufactured in Alberta, but some were manufactured in Quebec and Nova Scotia using these provinces' serial dies. ImageIssuedDesignSerial formatSerials issued1973–74orange on blueAB-12-34BA-00-01 to LZ-90-001975–76black on yellowABC-123JBB-000 to LRP-9991977–80unknown1981MGB-000 to MXX-999; XKK-000 to XXX-999; SBB-000 to SBC-9991982SBD-000 to SXX-999; QBB-000 to QXX-9991983–84EBB-000 to approximately ETP-999
1983 to present The current white, red and blue base was introduced in late 1983. Monthly staggered registration was introduced at the same time, with the month of expiration determined by the first letter of the registrant's surname, and the plate expiring on the last day of the assigned month. Plates were originally manufactured from steel and were reflective; non-reflective plates were introduced in 1993 as a cost-saving measure, while the material changed to aluminum in 1999 due to a steel shortage at the plant where the plates were manufactured. Front and rear plates were required until 1991; only rear plates have been required ever since. Several serial dies have been used on this base, owing to different plate vendors.
The base originally used the ABC-123 serial format, starting at BBB-000. The letters I, O and Q were not used in this format, and A, E, U and Y were used only from 1997, beginning with the TGY series. After YZZ-999 was reached in 2003 (the 'Z' series were reserved for ATVs at the time), previously skipped series containing A, E, U and Y were issued, starting with the BAA series and ending with the TGU series in April 2009. These were followed by the 'Z' series that had not been issued on ATVs, including those containing A, E, U and Y. The 'A' and 'X' series were not issued due to their use on Handicapped and Motorcycle plates respectively.
Some three-letter series were skipped because they had offensive connotations. The BSE series was issued in 2004, but was largely recalled due to a mad cow disease crisis.
As the ABC-123 format neared exhaustion in the late 2000s, the Alberta government launched an initiative to design a new base, with an expected launch date of 2009. This project was eventually put on hold in favour of introducing an ABC-1234 format on the 1984 base. The new format started in June 2010 at BBB-0000, with the letters A, E, I, O, Q and U skipped.
In July 2019, the new Alberta logo was added to the base, with Wild Rose Country being kept. The issuance of the license plates with the new logo started with two out-of-order series: the last series with the old logo, CDT, was followed by CFT and then CFS. After that, regular sequence resumed: CDV through CFR, then (since CFS and CFT have already been issued) CFV and so forth.
As of 2021, month and year expiry stickers were no longer required, but can still be obtained and issued under certain circumstances.
Beginning in October 2021, Alberta began issuing passenger (class 3) license plates with HD 6700 reflective sheeting from 3M. The reflective series began at CKT-1800. This sheeting had been used on several small batches of Antique Auto, Motorcycle, and Veteran plates before being introduced to general issue plates. This is the first time reflective passenger plates had been issued since 1993. The changes also occurred to trailer plates at 6JP0-00, Class 2 commercial plates at 44-P000, and Class 1 commercial plates at the beginning of a new format, 0-AA000; this format would take effect after the exhaustion of the A-00000 to A-99999 series. Dealer plates had the new sheeting introduced at M83000.