NEWFOUNDLAND

Until Newfoundland became Canada's 10th province on March 31, 1949, the colony was a separate political entity governed by a commission under direct control of the British Parliament.

A St. Johns ordinance passed on May 10, 1906, was actually a Colony law requiring all residents within the electoral districts of St. Johns owning motor vehicles to register them with the city Municipal Council.  Registration was changed to annual city-issued plates by 1920.

Annual pairs of colony-issued plates reportedly began on June 1, 1925.  Numbers began at #1001, and the highest 1925 plate known is #2018.  Shawn Auchinleck, a prominent Newfoundland collector, has discovered documentary evidence that a vehicle originating from a community near St. Johns (but outside it) was registered on October 25, 1925, receiving #2119.

Motorcycle plates most likely also began in 1925, but the earliest one known is 1926.