Personalized & Specialty Licence Plates

Since Alberta introduced them in 1985, more than 80,000 Personalized Plates (or “Vanity Plates”) have been issued.

Personalized Plates can be ordered for most types of vehicle registration. Some exceptions are Dealer, Antique and Disabled plates.

The personalized licence plate can have up to seven characters consisting of letters, numbers or a combination of both. Special characters, including hyphens, question marks, exclamation marks, etc., are not permitted.

Support Our Troops, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers specialty plates are not available as Personalized Plates. Plates for veterans, motorcycles and off-highway vehicles are limited to a maximum of five characters.

There are some limitations around personalized plates. The Government of Alberta has the right to refuse a personalized plate application if a request is made which contains language that references or translate to any human rights discrimination, political slurs, foul language, sexual references, political references, illegal activity, alcohol or controlled substances. The Traffic Safety Act also allows for a licence plate to be recalled after issue if it is later found to be offensive as above.

“Look Alike” plates are also restricted. Your agent will check to see if there are any current plates registered which could be mistaken for the plate you are requesting. For example, since ‘6’ is similar to ‘g’, if you requested a plate ‘6eorge’ and there is already a plate with the name ‘George’, you would not be able to get this plate.

In order to request a personalized plate, your motor vehicle account must be in good standing. The personalized plate must be mailed to the address on your motor vehicle account. You will need to be prepared to explain the intended meaning of the personalized plate you are requesting.

You CANNOT order a personalized plate for another individual and they can’t be transferred from one person to another. The cost is $225.75 which must be paid in full at the time of ordering.

It usually takes 4-6 weeks for a personalized plate to arrive to your home after it is ordered in our office. Once the plate arrives, you will need to visit our office and pay a $28 plate transfer fee to have the plate registered to your vehicle.