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The Canadian province of Quebec first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display licence plates in 1912. Plates are currently issued by the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (Quebec Automobile Insurance Corporation).
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From 1963 to 1977 (except 1967), licence plates carried the slogan La Belle Province ("The Beautiful Province"), a nickname for Quebec. Since 1978, they have carried Je me souviens ("I remember"), the official motto of the province.
Quebec is also one of only three provinces where decals are not used to show that the vehicle has valid registration (the others being Saskatchewan and Manitoba).
Since 1979, Quebec legislation has required only rear plates, though there are certain cases where front plates are also required. Annual renewal stickers, introduced in 1979 have now been abolished for passenger vehicles. Dates for plate renewal are determined by either one of two factors: for passenger vehicles, based on the first letter of the registered owner's name, and for other vehicles, based on the type of vehicle. For example, the registration of passenger vehicles whose owners' surnames begin with the letter "L" and school buses is to be renewed in September. Registrations and fees may be renewed up to three months in advance. Trailer plates ("R" category) are not renewed annually: they are only registered upon initial purchase, or when transferred to another owner. Enforcement is done by a variety of methods, including automated number plate recognition.
Vehicles registered in Quebec can only display approved plates. Decorative designs are tolerated at the front of the vehicles, but displaying foreign plates (or plates whose design is likely to be mistaken for a registration plate) is an offense under articles 34 and 56 of the Code de la sécurité routière (Highway traffic act) and punishable with a fine.
Relief Design Inc., of St-Louis de Blandford, is specialized in the production of license plates on behalf of the SAAQ.
Vehicle categories
Certain vehicle categories are indicated on plates by the use of prefixes:
Passenger plates 1912 to present
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 first Quebec licence plate that complied with these standards.