British Columbia Temporary Number Plates

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On March 27, 2020, ICBC released Bulletin 26, which dealt with the issuance of "Temporary Number Plates during COVID-19" (the latter being the virus responsible for a global health pandemic).
Using authority granted to it under the Motor Vehicle Act to issue license plates in a form of its choosing (Section 3(7)), of a material and design of its choosing (Section 12(1)) and to determine how license plates are to be displayed (Division 3 of the Regulations), ICBC authorised the use of "new temporary paper number plates":
The design of the Temporary Number Plates (TNP) is almost identical to the Tempoary Operating Permits (TOP) - you work with what you have in times of crisis! - and is to be displayed in much the same way; affix the top section of the page to the lower driver-side corner inside the rear window, and to affix the smaller bottom section of page to the inside bottom passenger-side of windshield.
With the previous Bulletin 25 establishing procedures for obtaining licensing and insurance services without the need for face-to-face contact, ICBC advised that TNPs would be sent electronically (email) to motorists by their Autoplan Agent after they had completed their registration/insurance by phone or email.
The idea being that motorists could print off their TNP on their home print and display it on their vehicle while they wait for their new plates and decals to arrive in the mail.
As of their release, there was no anticipated date provided by ICBC as to when the use of TNPs might be ceased.
Shown above (left) is a Temporary Number Plate that was affixed to a car while the actual plates and registration decal were sent in the mail. At right is the same car with the standard license plate affixed after it (the plate) arrived in the mail a week later.

While an imperfect comparison, chatter about the novel corona virus and similarities with the 1919 "Spanish Flu" pandemic got us to thinking about one of the previous times the province issued paper license plates to motorists, which was at the end of 1919!
It is our understanding, however, that the need to use paper plates in 1919 was attibutable to the shortage of metal as a result of the recently conclude Great War and not the "Spanish Flu". Nevertheless, it is an interesting co-incidence ...

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