Ontario Bus License Plates

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The following is a list of bus license plates in Ontario, beginning with the 1980 permanent series and progressing to currently issued plates.

History

The first Ontario bus series license plates were issued in 1973 under the quarterly system. In the early 1970's, the Province of Ontario was using a quarterly system for license plates, where a set of plates were issued and valid for a quarter of the year (the next three months) and then replaced. Thus, the license plate number on a vehicle wasn't fixed and changed over time (some pre-1980 bus plate numbers shown in rosters may not have lasted long on a vehicle). Prior to the 1973 introduction of bus plates, buses would use standard commercial vehicle license plates that were also under the quarterly system (before 1963, commercial plates had been issued yearly).

Starting in 1980 for buses and commercial vehicles, Ontario switched to a permanent plate system with yearly sticker validation, thus a plate (and specific plate number) would stick with a vehicle on a long term basis (as long as the owner owned the vehicle, or the plate wasn't switched or replaced). Plates issued "belong" to the owner of the vehicle, and can be reused or transferred by the owner onto a different vehicle if desired. This system had already been in use since 1973 for passenger vehicles in Ontario.

A typical recent-issue Ontario bus license plate

Bus Plate Numbering

1980+ System

The standard Ontario bus series of permanent license plates uses two letters and four numbers, always starting with a "B". The lettering is black, on a white plate. The 1980 series began at BA1 000 and proceeded until BN9 999. Upon reaching that point in 2009, the original series ended after BN ("BP" was already in use by Pro-rated bus plates). The character and number sequence was then switched, and the new series began with the letter code "BF" at 100 0BF.

Certain letters are not used and are skipped over to avoid confusion with similar looking numbers (letters "G" "I" and "O" are skipped because they are too similar to numbers "6", "1" and "0" that are in use).

In 1994, the font dies were changed on Ontario license plates to a narrower style, and the plate style changed from stamped and painted to stamped with a reflectorized coating (this happened around the BF-BH bus plate series).

School bus plates for school vehicles use a similar two letter four number pattern, but start with "S". Some school buses may use regular B-series bus plates instead.

Pro-rated bus plates intended for long-distance and inter-provincial use start with "BP".

At one time, there was also a smaller, separate Ontario Public Vehicle plate affixed to the rear (sometimes front) of some buses with up to a 5- digit number. This plate system fell out of use in the early-mid 1990's (although some older vehicles retained their plate until eventual removal or retirement).

Pre-1980 System

Some B-series plates shown in some rosters that don't follow the conventional 1980 system may have been issued under the pre-1980 system, such as "BU" and "BV" series license plates. Photos may also show some pre-1980 plates using different colour patterns, such as white lettering on a blue plate. Due to their limited timespan and frequent renewal, pre-1980 plates are more difficult to track and specific pre-1980 plate information may not be present or known for many rosters. Starting in 1980, many fleets were mass replated with the new permanent bus license plates as the old system fell out of use or as quarterly plates came up for renewal.

Note: 2009 series bus plate listings below are read as the number being the first digit and not the one closest to the letters, eg "7BL" plates are "7xx xBL", "8BL" are "8xx xBL", etc.

Ontario Bus License Plates
v·d·e
1980 series
BA#: BA1 BA2 BA3 BA4 BA5 BA6 BA7 BA8 BA9 BE#: BE1 BE2 BE3 BE4 BE5 BE6 BE7 BE8 BE9 BK#: BK1 BK2 BK3 BK4 BK5 BK6 BK7 BK8 BK9
BB#: BB1 BB2 BB3 BB4 BB5 BB6 BB7 BB8 BB9 BF#: BF1 BF2 BF3 BF4 BF5 BF6 BF7 BF8 BF9 BL#: BL1 BL2 BL3 BL4 BL5 BL6 BL7 BL8 BL9
BC#: BC1 BC2 BC3 BC4 BC5 BC6 BC7 BC8 BC9 BH#: BH1 BH2 BH3 BH4 BH5 BH6 BH7 BH8 BH9 BM#: BM1 BM2 BM3 BM4 BM5 BM6 BM7 BM8 BM9
BD#: BD1 BD2 BD3 BD4 BD5 BD6 BD7 BD8 BD9 BJ#: BJ1 BJ2 BJ3 BJ4 BJ5 BJ6 BJ7 BJ8 BJ9 BN#: BN1 BN2 BN3 BN4 BN5 BN6 BN7 BN8 BN9
Prorated Plates
BP#: BP1 BP2 BP3 BP4 BP5 BP6 BP7 BP8 BP9
2009 Series
xxx xBF#: 1BF 2BF 3BF 4BF 5BF 6BF 7BF 8BF 9BF xxx xBJ#: 1BJ 2BJ 3BJ 4BJ 5BJ 6BJ 7BJ 8BJ 9BJ xxx xBL#: 1BL 2BL 3BL 4BL 5BL 6BL 7BL 8BL 9BL
xxx xBH#: 1BH 2BH 3BH 4BH 5BH 6BH 7BH 8BH 9BH xxx xBK#: 1BK 2BK 3BK 4BK 5BK 6BK 7BK 8BK 9BK xxx xBM#: 1BM 2BM 3BM 4BM 5BM 6BM 7BM 8BM 9BM
xxx xBN#: 1BN 2BN 3BN 4BN 5BN 6BN 7BN 8BN 9BN