British Columbia Medical Doctor License Plates

On March 21, 1930, the Superintendent of the British Columbia Police, J.H. McMullen, issued M.V. Circular No. 90, which related to the issuance of Motor Vehicle Licence's for Doctors.

According to McMullen, upon the request of the British Columbia Medical Association (BCMA), arrangements had been made so that members of the medical profession in the province could be issued with license plates in the 19-000 series for the purpose of identifying doctors' cars.

As it was not practical to apportion and distribute plates from the 19-000 series to the numerous issuing offices throughout the province, McMullen advised that the doctors' plates would be issued directly from the head office in Victoria. Each member of the BCMA had been notified by their association that applications for these plates were to be submitted through their Secretary who would then review the application and provide an "O.K" along with an application fee to the head office.

McMullen went on to caution issuing agents that:

in the case of a doctor turning in his car or otherwise disposing of his motor-vehicle, it is necessary that the 19000 series number plates on such motor-vehicles should not be turned over with the vehicle as this would soon kill the identification of such motor-vehicles. In order to obviate this difficulty it will be necessary in a case of this nature for the doctor to take off the 19000 series plates, mutilate the same and turn them into the nearest issuing office at the same time as making an application for substitution. New plates of the series on hand in the issuing office should then be issued, which plates should be attached by the doctor to the motor-vehicle he is disposing of, before it leaves his possession, and the necessary transfer put through under the substituted plate number.

1930 - 1937

1931

1933

Issuing Statistics

1930:	19-000 to 19-999
1931:	19-000 to 19-999
1932:	19-000 to 19-999
1933:	19-000 to 19-999
1934:	19-000 to 19-999
1935:	19-000 to 19-999
1936:	19-000 to 19-999
1937:	19-000 to 19-999

1935

1936

1937

In early February of 1938, the Victoria Times reported that vehicles belonging to doctor`s would now be issued with the new letter classification of `PN` in order "to eliminate confusion that had arisen. Previously, for instance, doctors had the 19,000 block of numbers. They needed only a part of the 1,000 licenses available and several hundred plates were thus useless."

1938 - 1943: "PN"

1938

1940

Issuing Statistics

1938:	Unknown
1939:	Unknown
1940:	PN1 to PN575
1941:	PN1 to PN550
1942:	PN1 to PN550
1943:	PN1 to PN550

On April 21, 1944, and under the title of "Dope Precaution", the Vancouver Province newspaper reported that, at the request of BC doctors, the provincial government was ceasing the issuance of "PN" plates.

According to the Province the "familiar 'PN' license plates have now disappeared from cars driven by Vancouver physicians and surgeons, as have virtually all other such special identifying marks, following the growing increase of dope holdups and burglaries. Doctors, in an effort to make their autos as inconspicuous as possible, now carry the ordinary license plate, city traffic officers said today."


	Shown at left and above are the types of license plate toppers used by Doctors to denote their vehicle prior. It is thought that these were used before and after the introduction of Medical plates in 1930.