The Canadian territory

Provinces and territories of Canada

The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...

 of Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...

first required its residents to register their motor vehicle

Motor vehicle

A motor vehicle or road vehicle is a self-propelled wheeled vehicle that does not operate on rails, such as trains or trolleys. The vehicle propulsion is provided by an engine or motor, usually by an internal combustion engine, or an electric motor, or some combination of the two, such as hybrid...

s and display licence plates

Vehicle registration plates of Canada

In Canada, licence plates are issued by an agency of the provincial or territorial government. The spelling license is used in the U.S. for the noun and verb, while the spelling licence in Canada is for the noun and license for the verb...

in 1941. In 1970, to celebrate the centennial of the territory, a polar bear-shaped plate was introduced. The bear shaped plate is now a registered trademark of the Northwest Territories government. That basic shape has been retained ever since, and in 1999 when the territory of Nunavut

Vehicle registration plates of Nunavut

The Canadian territory of Nunavut, established in 1999, splitting from the Northwest Territories, since that time has issued licence plates to motor vehicles registered there...

 was created from part of the territory, that new jurisdiction adopted a virtually identical plate.

Passenger plates 1966 to present

Image	First issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	1966	black on reflective orange	Canada's Northland	1-234 12-345 (following exhaustion of previous format)
	1970	bear Polar Bear The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size... -shaped; white on blue	Centennial			Awarded inaugural "Plate of the Year" for best new licence plate of 1970 by the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association Automobile License Plate Collectors Association The Automobile License Plate Collectors Association is the largest such organization in the world. Founded in Rumney Depot, New Hampshire, United States, in 1953 and holding its first meeting in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, in 1954, its members have come from all 50 U.S... .
	1971	bear-shaped; blue on white
	1972	bear-shaped; white on blue
	1973	bear-shaped; dark blue on white with yellow slogan, date, and border	RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,... Centennial
	1974	bear-shaped; red on white
	1975	bear-shaped; turquoise on white
	1977	bear-shaped; red on white
	1979	bear-shaped; turquoise on white
	1981	bear-shaped; red on white
	1983	bear-shaped; blue on white
	1986	bear-shaped; blue on white	Explore Canada's Arctic	1234 12345 (following exhaustion of previous format)
	2010	bear-shaped; nature scene	Spectacular

External links

• Northwest Territories licence plates 1969-present