Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

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Face sides of the 2001 Canadian Journey series depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Face sides of the 2001 Canadian Journey series depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.

Canadian banknotes are the banknotes of Canada, denominated in Canadian dollars (CAD). In common everyday usage, they are called bills. Currently, they are issued in five, ten, twenty, fifty, and hundred dollar denominations. All notes are issued by the Bank of Canada, which released its first series of notes in 1935.

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[edit] Production

Bills are issued by the Bank of Canada, but the actual production of the bills is outsourced to the Canadian Bank Note Company and BA International Inc (formerly the British American Banknote Company Ltd), in accordance with the specifications and requirements of the Bank of Canada. All wording on bills appears in both of Canada's official languages, English and French. Bank Notes are printed on paper composed of pure cotton.

[edit] Counterfeiting

An internal report by the Bank of Canada states that the current level of counterfeit money in Canada is now higher than its key monitoring benchmark and is higher than benchmarks used in other countries. The report said "All denominations except the $5 continued to be above our historical threshold of 120 counterfeits detected per million genuine notes in circulation," hitting a high of 470 phoney bills for every million legitimate notes circulating in 2004.[1]

[edit] Removal of $1, $2, and $1,000 notes

Some of the most significant recent developments in Canadian currency were the withdrawal of the $1, $2, and $1,000 notes in 1989, 1996, and 2000 respectively. The $1 and $2 denominations have been replaced with coins. See loonie and toonie.

[edit] List of bank note series

[edit] 1935 Series

Main article: 1935 Series (banknotes)

The Bank of Canada was created in 1934 and given responsibility, through an Act of Parliament, to regulate the country's money supply and to "promote the economic and financial welfare of Canada." Accordingly, it was given the exclusive right to issue bank notes in Canada. On 11 March 1935, the Bank of Canada issued its first series of bank notes.

[edit] 1937 Series

Main article: 1937 Series (banknotes)

The creation of a second series of bank notes, only two years after the first issue, was prompted by changes in Canadian government legislation requiring the Bank of Canada to produce bilingual bank notes. Another contributing factor was the death of King George V on 20 January 1936 and the subsequent abdication of Edward VIII.

[edit] 1954 Series

Main article: 1954 Series (banknotes)

The third series of Bank of Canada bank notes was prepared in 1952. Significant changes to the design of Canada's paper currency gave it a whole new look that set the standard for the future.

With the ascension to the throne of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, plates were prepared for the third series of Bank of Canada notes. They were very different from the 1937 series, although the colours and bilingual nature were retained. The portrait was moved from the centre of the bank note to the right-hand side where it was less susceptible to wear caused by the folding of notes. The elaborate detail of earlier issues was simplified, and the earlier allegorical figures were replaced by Canadian landscapes. The Canadian coat of arms was first introduced in this series and formed part of the background design. This is the only series on which the portrait of the Queen appears on all denominations.

[edit] Scenes of Canada Series

Main article: Scenes of Canada (banknotes)

Because of a growing concern over counterfeiting, the Bank of Canada began to release a new series of bank notes in 1969.

This series represented another complete departure in design from earlier issues:

  • colourful, wavy patterns were introduced;
  • a new series of Canadian scenic vignettes was created;
  • portraits of former Canadian prime ministers were re-introduced.

[edit] Birds of Canada Series

1986 ("Birds of Canada") series
Image Value Main Colour Description Date of
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing issue cessation of issue
Image:CAD2 Front.png Image:CAD2 Back.png $2 Terra cotta Queen Elizabeth II American robins 1986 2 September 1986 16 February 1996
[2] [3] $5 Blue Sir Wilfrid Laurier Belted kingfisher 1986 28 April 1986 Newer $5 issued date
[4] [5] $10 Purple Sir John A. Macdonald Osprey 1989 27 June 1989 Newer $10 issued date
[6] [7] $20 Green Queen Elizabeth II Common loon 1991 29 June 1993 Newer $20 issued date
[8] [9] $50 Red William Lyon Mackenzie King Snowy owl 1988 1 December 1989 Newer $50 issued date
$100 Brown Sir Robert Borden Canada goose 1988 3 December 1990 Newer $100 issued date
Image:CAD1000 Front.png Image:CAD1000 Back.png $1000 Reddish purple Queen Elizabeth II Pine grosbeak 1988 4 May 1992 12 May 2000
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre, a Wikipedia standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] Canadian Journey Series

Beginning in 2001, the Bank of Canada introduced a new series of bills called "Canadian Journey", featuring images of Canadian heritage and excerpts from Canadian literature. The $10 was first issued on January 17, 2001; the $5 on March 27, 2002; the $100 bill on March 17, 2004, the $20 on September 29, 2004, and the $50 on November 17, 2004.

The $20, $50, and $100 dollar notes introduce watermark security features for the first time on Canadian currency since the four-dollar Dominion notes; they also boast significantly expanded holographic security features. Also among the new features are a windowed colour-shifting thread woven into the paper, a see-through number, and enhanced fluorescence under ultraviolet lighting. These features are reliable, quick and easy to use, and are designed to help Canadians protect themselves by detecting counterfeit notes. All post-2001 series notes also include the EURion constellation, on both sides of the bill. The new bills have a "tactile feature", which is a series of raised dots (but not Braille) in the upper right corner on the obverse of each bill to aid the visually-impaired in identifying currency denominations.

The security features new on the $20, $50, and $100 notes were added to an updated version of the $10 note released on 18 May 2005, and the Bank of Canada began issuing a $5 note with upgraded security features on 15 November 2006 as part of its ongoing effort to improve the security of Canadian bank notes. The illustrations on the front and back of the upgraded notes are the same as those on the $5 and $10 notes issued in 2001 and 2002.

The "Canadian Journey" literary excerpts are printed in English and French, with the English versions being:

  • $5: The winters of my childhood were long, long seasons. We lived in three places—the school, the church, and the skating-rink—but our real life was on the skating-rink. (Roch Carrier (b. 1937) from his short story Le chandail de hockey (The Hockey Sweater))
  • $10: In Flanders Fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses, row on row, / That mark our place, and in the sky / The larks, still bravely singing, fly / Scarce heard amid the guns below. (John McCrae (1872-1918), from his poem In Flanders Fields)
  • $20: Could we ever know each other in the slightest without the arts? (Gabrielle Roy (1909-1983) from her novel La Montagne secrète (The Hidden Mountain))
  • $50: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights (from Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948)
  • $100: Do we ever remember that somewhere above the sky in some child's dream perhaps Jacques Cartier is still sailing, always on his way always about to discover a new Canada? (Miriam Waddington (1917-2004) from her poem Jacques Cartier in Toronto)


2001 ("Canadian Journey") series
Image Value Main Colour Description Date of
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse Watermark printing issue
Image:CAD5 Front.png Image:CAD5 Back.png $5 Blue Sir Wilfrid Laurier; the West Block of Parliament Children playing hockey and other winter sports; excerpt from "The Hockey Sweater" by Roch Carrier 2001 27 March 2002
$5 As portrait 2005 15 November 2006
[10] [11] $10 Purple Sir John A. Macdonald; the Library of Parliament Peacekeeping forces and war memorial; excerpt from "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae 2000 17 January 2001
$10 As portrait 2005 18 May 2005
$20 Green Queen Elizabeth II; the Centre Block of Parliament Artwork of Bill Reid; excerpt from Gabrielle Roy's novel, The Hidden Mountain. As portrait 2004 29 September 2004
Image:CAD50 Back.png $50 Red William Lyon Mackenzie King; the Peace Tower The Famous Five and Thérèse Casgrain; quotation from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights As portrait 2004 17 November 2004
Image:CAD100 Front.png Image:CAD100 Back.png $100 Brown Sir Robert Borden; the East Block of Parliament Maps of Canada, historic and modern; excerpt from Miriam Waddington's poem, "Jacques Cartier in Toronto" As portrait 2003 17 March 2004
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre, a Wikipedia standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.
Commemorative Issues
Image Value Main Colour Description Date of
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing issue
Image:CAD25 English Front.png
fr		 Image:CAD25 English Back.png
fr		 $25‡ Purple King George V and Queen Mary Windsor Castle May 6, 1935
[12] [13] $1‡ Dark Green Elizabeth II Old parliament buildings in Ottawa - destroyed by fire in 1916 1967 3 January 1967
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre, a Wikipedia standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

‡ Withdrawn from circulation. Currency withdrawn from circulation is still legal tender. Despite the introduction of new notes, the 1986 series $20, $50, and $100 are still occasionally used; $1,000 notes are rare.

All bills of 1954 series or later measure 152.4 mm by 69.85 mm (6 by 2¾ inches).

See also Withdrawn Canadian banknotes.

[edit] Myths

A number of myths have circulated regarding Canadian banknotes.

  • An American flag is flying over the Parliament buildings on Canadian paper money. This is not the case. The Birds series bills depict a Union Jack flying over Parliament on the $100; a Canadian Red Ensign (a former Canadian flag) on the $5, $10, and $50; and the modern maple-leaf flag was on the $2 and $1000 bills. (The $20 depicts the Library of Parliament, with no flag visible.) Those "taken" by the rumour were likely fooled by the bills with the Red Ensign, as the flags are very small and not shown in full colour, and the Ensign with its contrasting canton somewhat resembles the American flag.
  • When a bill depicts a past prime minister, the Parliament buildings behind him are flying whichever flag Canada was using at the time of his tenure. The obverse of the Birds series featured images of prime ministers (or the Queen) and the houses of Parliament. However, as noted above, the $10 note featured the Red Ensign alongside Sir John A. Macdonald, who became prime minister 25 years before the Red Ensign was approved for use on the Merchant Marine and more than 50 years before it was used on government buildings. Also, the Union Jack is on the $100 with Sir Robert Borden, who came after Laurier who appears with the Red Ensign. This is sometimes explained by the fact that Borden governed during World War I. The views of the Houses of Parliament on the current Canadian Journey series do not feature any flag.
  • The new series $10 bill is being recalled because there is a misprint in the poem In Flanders Fields. The first line as printed, "In Flanders fields the poppies blow," startled many people, who believed the last word should be "grow". John McCrae wrote two versions which were both published, but his original manuscript, the one used by the government and widely used for Remembrance Day ceremonies, reads "blow". (The last two lines are, "We shall not sleep, though poppies grow/In Flanders fields.")

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Canadian banknotes and coins
Canadian coinage
Commemorative coins
Canadian banknotes
$5 · $10 · $20 · $50 · $100 · Withdrawn banknotes
Canadian banknotes by Series
Historical currencies of Canada
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