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The Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display licence plates in 1920.
In 1956, the U.S. states and Canadian provinces came to an agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association that fixed the size for licence plates for vehicles, except those for motorcycles, at six inches in height by twelve inches in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1955 (dated 1956) issue was the province's first licence plate that complied with these standards.
The last complete re-registration of all registered vehicles in Newfoundland was in 1981, with a switch from a numerical system (which reached a high of approximately 250000) to an alphanumeric system.
All plates issued since 1982 (beginning AAA-001) remain valid today. Plates remain with the vehicle to which they are originally registered, rather than with the owner. Used vehicles with expired plates are issued new licence plates — used vehicles with valid plates retain their original licence plate.
Since 1985, the province has not issued the letters I, Q, U, or Y on licence plates. At least one exception exists: on the 1996-1997 Cabot 500 base, the HAY series was issued, and some of these plates can still be observed on the road today. More recently, the letter I has been seen in the TGI series (issued to trailers). The letter O, however, is still used in all positions.
Since September 1997, the province requires only a rear plate for most registrations, except for B, C, E and G plates (see below). Some older cars still display both front and rear plates. Some early "World of Difference" and Cabot 500 base plates were issued in duplicate for the front and rear.
On Newfoundland licence plates, the first letter (or two letters) designates the registration class of the vehicle. For example, HMT-999 would be assigned to a passenger car, while TZD-019 would be assigned to a trailer.