Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

Banknotes of the Canadian dollar are the

The currently produced banknote series of the Canadian dollar both consist of polymer banknotes: the 7th series (Frontier), which was launched in 2011, and the 8th series, which was launched in 2018.

On 6 May 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the $20 bill would be updated to feature the new king, Charles III.^[1]

Production

Notes are issued by the Bank of Canada, but the actual production of the banknotes is outsourced to the Canadian Bank Note Company in accordance with the specifications and requirements of the Bank of Canada. All wording on the notes appears in both of Canada's official languages, English and French. Banknotes were printed on paper composed of pure cotton. Cotton fibre was discontinued and replaced by a synthetic polymer starting in 2011, with the last of the paper banknotes being made available in November 2013.^[2][3]

Counterfeiting

Efforts to reduce

Counterfeiting is measured using a system borrowed from chemistry known as parts per million (PPM). Normally used to judge the potency of molecules in a solution, PPM in the counterfeit sense refers to the number of fake banknotes found in circulation for every one million genuine notes. In 1990, Canada's counterfeit ratio was just 4 PPM, ranking its currency among the most secure in the world. By the late 1990s, the rise of powerful and affordable home computers, store-bought graphics software, easy-to-use scanners and colour ink-jet printers were breeding a new generation of counterfeiters. The number of fake Canadian bills rose as high as 117 PPM by 1997. In 2004 Canada's counterfeit rate had ballooned to 470 PPM. In 2012, the counterfeiting rate had fallen to its lowest point, at 28 PPM. It has since started modestly rising to 36 PPM in 2014. The Bank of Canada's medium-term planning target is to stay below 30 PPM.[7] Most G20 nations used 50 PPM as their benchmark to stay below.^[8]

History

The first paper money issued in Canada denominated in dollars were British Army notes, issued between 1813 and 1815 in denominations between $1 and $400. These were emergency issues due to the War of 1812. The first banknotes were issued in 1817 by the Montreal Bank.

Chartered banks

Large numbers of chartered banks were founded in the 1830s, 1850s, 1860s and 1870s, although many issued paper money for only a short time. Others, including the Montreal Bank (later called the

Before Canadian Confederation, dollar-denominated notes were issued by the governments of the Colony of British Columbia, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Of these, the Province of Canada, established in 1841, was the most prolific issuer of paper money. Notes were produced for the government by the Bank of Montreal between 1842 and 1862, in denominations of $4, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. In 1866, the Province of Canada began issuing its own paper money, in denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 and $500. The Dominion of Newfoundland issued notes denominated in Newfoundland dollars from 1901 until it joined Confederation in 1949.

Government of Canada

For a temporary period following Confederation in 1867, Province of Canada notes served as the Dominion of Canada's first national currency, and notes were dispatched from

In 1934, with only ten chartered banks still issuing notes, the Bank of Canada was founded and began issuing notes in denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $25, $50, $100, $500 and $1000. In 1944, the chartered banks were prohibited from issuing their own currency, with the Royal Bank of Canada and the Bank of Montreal among the last to issue notes. Since then, the Bank of Canada has been the sole issuer of banknotes denominated in Canadian dollars. A liability of more than $12 million remains on the Bank of Canada's books up to the present day, representing the face value of Dominion of Canada, provincial, and chartered bank notes still outstanding.^[11]

Withdrawn denominations

The 1935 series was the only series to have included $25 and $500 denominations. Both denominations were short lived. The $25 note was withdrawn on 18 May 1937. Stacks of unissued 1935 $500 notes were destroyed in February 1938, and issued $500 notes were recalled and withdrawn from circulation five months later.

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, colloquially referred to as the "loonie" and "toonie" respectively, with the loonie simultaneously replacing the $1 bill as well as the preceding Voyageur dollar coin, the latter of which remains legal tender. In 2000, the $1,000 note was removed at the request of the Solicitor General of Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as it was reported that they were largely being used for money laundering and organized crime.

List of Bank of Canada banknote series

1935

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.

1937

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

1954 Canadian Landscape

The third series of banknotes of the Canadian dollar issued by the

The banknote series became known as the "Devil's Head" series, because the hair behind the Queen's head looked somewhat like a grinning demon.^[15] This led to design modifications for all denominations. The second variant of the series was issued in 1956.^[13]

1969 Scenes of Canada

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. Both Laurier and Macdonald were on the 1935 and 1937 series, but now joined by King and Borden.

This was the last series to feature a $1 banknote, with the banknote replaced by a dollar coin – known as a loonie for its design of a loon on the obverse – in 1987; printing of the $1 banknote ceased in 1989. However, there was a 21-month period where both the $1 bill and coin were produced concurrently, from June 1987 to April 1989.^[16]

1986 Birds of Canada

In 1986 the Bank of Canada introduced new banknotes called the Birds of Canada series. The design on the back of each note features a bird indigenous to Canada with a background representing the typical landscape for that bird. The portraits on the front of the note were made larger than those of previous series, and a metallic patch was introduced on the larger notes. Each banknote weighs 1 gram (0.035 oz).^[17] This series was the first to include a bar code with the serial number. This allows the visually impaired to distinguish notes with the use of a hand-held device that tells the note's denomination.

This was also the last series that the $2 and $1,000 notes were issued. The $2 note was withdrawn in 1996 and replaced by the $2 coin, known as the