Banknotes of the Canadian dollar
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 by the Bank of Canada.
Production
Bills are issued by the Bank of Canada, but the actual production of the bills is outsourced to the Canadian Bank Note Company in accordance with the specifications and requirements of the Bank of Canada. All wording on bills appears in both Canada's official languages, English and French.
Removal of $1 and $2 bills
Some of the most significant recent developments in Canadian currency were the withdrawal of the $1 and $2 bills in 1987 and 1996, respectively, and their replacement with new coins.
Canadian Journey
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 new $10 was first issued on January 17, 2001; the new $5 on March 27, 2002; the new $100 bill on March 17, 2004, the new $20 on September 29, 2004, and the new $50 on November 17, 2004.
The $20, $50, and $100 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 from accepting counterfeit notes. All 2001 through 2005 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 in 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 will issue a $5 note with upgraded security features beginning 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))
- $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 his way always about to discover a new Canada? (Miriam Waddington (1917-2004) from her poem Jacques Cartier in Toronto)
List of bank notes
Canadian banknotes - an exhaustive list
| 1935 Series | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Value | Colour | Obverse | Reverse | Printed Date | Issued Date | |
| $1‡ | Green | King George V | Agriculture allegory | 1935 | 11 March 1935 | ||
| $2‡ | Blue | Queen Mary | Transportation allegory | 1935 | 11 March 1935 | ||
| $5‡ | Orange | Edward, Prince of Wales | Electric power allegory | 1935 | 11 March 1935 | ||
| $10‡ | Purple | Princess Mary | Harvest allegory | 1935 | 11 March 1935 | ||
| $20‡ | Rose Pink | Princess Elizabeth | Agriculture allegory | 1935 | 11 March 1935 | ||
| $50‡ | Brown | Prince Albert, Duke of York | Modern Inventions allegory | 1935 | 11 March 1935 | ||
| $100‡ | Dark Brown | Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester | Commerce and industry allegory | 1935 | 11 March 1935 | ||
| File:CAD500 English Front.png | File:CAD500 English Back.png | $500‡ | Sepia | Sir John A. Macdonald | Fertility allegory | 1935 | 11 March 1935 |
| $1000‡ | Dark Green | Sir Wilfrid Laurier | Security allegory | 1935 | 11 March 1935 | ||
| These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world banknotes. | |||||||
| 1937 Series | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | Colour | Obverse | Reverse | Printed Date | Issued Date |
| $1‡ | Green | King George VI | Agriculture allegory | 2 January 1937 | 19 July 1937 |
| $2‡ | Terra cotta | King George VI | Harvest allegory | 2 January 1937 | 19 July 1937 |
| $5‡ | Blue | King George VI | Electric power allegory | 2 January 1937 | 19 July 1937 |
| $10‡ | Purple | King George VI | Transportation allegory | 2 January 1937 | 19 July 1937 |
| $20‡ | Olive Green | King George VI | Fertility allegory | 2 January 1937 | 19 July 1937 |
| $50‡ | Orange | King George VI | Modern Inventions allegory | 2 January 1937 | 19 July 1937 |
| $100‡ | Brown | Sir John A. Macdonald | Commerce and industry allegory | 2 January 1937 | 19 July 1937 |
| $1000‡ | Rose Pink | Sir Wilfrid Laurier | Security allegory | 2 January 1937 | 19 July 1937 |
| 1954 series | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | Colour | Obverse | Reverse | Printed Date | Issued Date |
| $1‡ | Green | Queen Elizabeth II | Saskatchewan prairie | 1954 | 9 September 1954 |
| $2‡ | Terra cotta | Queen Elizabeth II | A country scene, Richmond, Quebec | 1954 | 9 September 1954 |
| $5‡ | Blue | Queen Elizabeth II | Otter Falls, (Aishihik River), Yukon | 1954 | 9 September 1954 |
| $10‡ | Purple | Queen Elizabeth II | Mount Burgess, British Columbia | 1954 | 9 September 1954 |
| $20‡ | Olive Green | Queen Elizabeth II | Winter landscape, Laurentian Mountains, Quebec | 1954 | 9 September 1954 |
| $50‡ | Orange | Queen Elizabeth II | Lockeport Beach, Nova Scotia | 1954 | 9 September 1954 |
| $100‡ | Brown | Queen Elizabeth II | Okanagan Lake, British Columbia | 1954 | 9 September 1954 |
| $1000‡ | Rose Pink | Queen Elizabeth II | Anse-Sainte-Jean, Quebec | 1954 | 9 September 1954 |
| 1969-1979 ("Scenes of Canada") series | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Value | Colour | Obverse | Reverse | Printed Date | Issued Date | Ceased Being Issued | |
| File:CAD1 Front.png | File:CAD1 Back.png | $1‡ | Dark green | Queen Elizabeth II | The parliament buildings from the Ottawa River, Ontario | 1973 | 3 June 1974 | 30 June 1989 |
| $2‡ | Terra cotta | Queen Elizabeth II | Inuit hunting on Baffin Island, Northwest Territories | 1974 | 5 August 1975 | Newer $2 issued date | ||
| $5‡ | Blue | Sir Wilfrid Laurier | Salmon seiner BCP 45 in Johnstone Straits, British Columbia | 1972 | 4 December 1972 | Newer $5 issued date | ||
| $5‡ | 1979 | 1 October 1979 | Newer $5 issued date | |||||
| $10‡ | Purple | Sir John A. Macdonald | Oil refinery in Sarnia, Ontario | 1971 | 8 November 1971 | Newer $10 issued date | ||
| $20‡ | Green | Queen Elizabeth II | Moraine Lake and the Rocky Mountains, Alberta | 1969 | 22 June 1969 | Newer $20 issued date | ||
| $20‡ | 1979 | 18 December 1979 | Newer $20 issued date | |||||
| $50‡ | Red | William Lyon Mackenzie King | The RCMP Musical Ride | 1975 | 31 March 1975 | Newer $50 issued date | ||
| $100‡ | Brown | Sir Robert Borden | Lunenburg Harbour, Nova Scotia | 1975 | 31 May 1976 | Newer $100 issued date | ||
| These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world banknotes. | ||||||||
| 1986 ("Birds of Canada") series | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Value | Colour | Obverse | Reverse | Printed Date | Issued Date | Ceased Being Issued | |
| File:CAD2 Front.png | File:CAD2 Back.png | $2 | Terra cotta | Queen Elizabeth II | American robins | 1986 | 2 September 1986 | 16 February 1996 |
| $5 | Blue | Sir Wilfrid Laurier | Belted kingfisher | 1986 | 28 April 1986 | Newer $5 issued date | ||
| $10 | Purple | Sir John A. Macdonald | Osprey | 1989 | 27 June 1989 | Newer $10 issued date | ||
| $20 | Green | Queen Elizabeth II | Common loon | 1991 | 29 June 1993 | Newer $20 issued date | ||
| $50 | Red | William Lyon Mackenzie King | Snowy owl | 1988 | 1 December 1989 | Newer $50 issued date | ||
| File:CAD100Birdsfront.gif | File:CAD100Birdsback.gif | $100 | Brown | Sir Robert Borden | Canada goose | 1988 | 3 December 1990 | Newer $100 issued date |
| File:CAD1000 Front.png | File: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 millimeter, a standard for world banknotes. | ||||||||
| 2001 ("Canadian Journey") series (pictured top right) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Value | Colour | Obverse | Reverse | Printed Date | Issued Date | Watermark | |
| File:CAD5 Front.png | File:CAD5 Back.png | $5 | Blue | Sir Wilfrid Laurier | Children playing hockey and other winter sports; excerpt from "The Hockey Sweater" by Roch Carrier | 2001 | 27 March 2002 | |
| File:2000 05f new.jpg | File:2000 05b new.jpg | $5 | 2005 | 15 November 2006 | As portrait | |||
| $10 | Purple | Sir John A. Macdonald | Peacekeeping forces and war memorial; excerpt from "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae | 2000 | 17 January 2001 | |||
| File:CAD10 Front.png | File:CAD10 Back.png | $10 | 2005 | 18 May 2005 | As portrait | |||
| File:CAD20 Front.png | File:CAD20 Back.png | $20 | Green | Queen Elizabeth II | Artwork of Bill Reid; excerpt from Gabrielle Roy's novel, The Hidden Mountain. | 2004 | 29 September 2004 | As portrait |
| File:CAD50 Front.png | File:CAD50 Back.png | $50 | Red | William Lyon Mackenzie King | The Famous Five and Thérèse Casgrain; quotation from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights | 2004 | 17 November 2004 | As portrait |
| File:CAD100 Front.png | File:CAD100 Back.png | $100 | Brown | Sir Robert Borden | Maps of Canada, historic and modern; excerpt from Miriam Waddington's poem, "Jacques Cartier in Toronto" | 2003 | 17 March 2004 | As portrait |
| These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world banknotes. | ||||||||
| Commemorative Issues | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Value | Colour | Obverse | Reverse | Printed Date | Issued Date | |
| File:CAD25 English Front.png | File:CAD25 English Back.png | $25‡ | Purple | King George V and Queen Mary | Windsor Castle | May 6, 1935 | |
| $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 millimeter, a standard for world banknotes. | |||||||
‡ Withdrawn from circulation. Currency withdrawn from circulation is still legal tender. As of early 2005, the 1986-series $5 and $10 bills are still occasionally encountered, but they are rapidly disappearing from regular use. Despite the introduction of new notes, the 1986 $20, $50, and $100 are still common. $1,000 bills are no longer printed, but are still used by banks and casinos occasionally.
All bills of 1954 series or later measure 152.4 mm by 69.85 mm (6 by 2¾ inches).
See also Withdrawn Canadian banknotes.
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", meaning to bloom. (The last two lines are, "We shall not sleep, though poppies grow/In Flanders fields.")