Banknotes of the Canadian dollar
On 6 May 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the $20 bill would be updated to feature the new king, Charles III.
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.
[5] The new Frontier series of banknotes significantly improves security primarily by using a polymer substrate to make up the note instead of the previously used fabric.
Even as Canada's counterfeiting problem escalated, the shift to polymer was viewed as too expensive.
All older cotton-paper banknotes prior to the 2013 polymer series are now considered unfit for circulation due to their lack of modern security features, such as a metallic stripe.
Normally used to judge the potency of molecules in a solution, PPM in the counterfeiting sense refers to the number of fake banknotes found in circulation for every one million genuine notes.
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.
Large numbers of chartered banks were founded in the 1830s, 1850s, 1860s and 1870s, although many issued paper money for only a short time.
[10] 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.
Since then, the Bank of Canada has been the sole issuer of banknotes denominated in Canadian dollars.
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.
Another contributing factor was the death of King George V on 20 January 1936, and the subsequent abdication of Edward VIII.
[13] The banknotes were designed in 1952 following the accession of Elizabeth II to the throne after the death of her father George VI.
The banknote designs differed significantly from the 1937 series, though the denomination colours and bilingual printing were retained.
[15] This was the first series to include the Canadian coat of arms, which appeared centrally in the background of the obverse.
The $1,000 note was withdrawn by the Bank of Canada on 12 May 2000, at the request of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) as part of a program to reduce organized crime.
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.
The "Canadian Journey" literary excerpts are printed in English and French, with the English versions being: Canadian Journey banknotes (2004 style) incorporates background colour and consists of series years 2001, 2003, 2003A, 2004, 2004A and 2006.
In place of a watermark are two visual features: a translucent maple leaf and a transparent window.
The leaf includes a security feature that, when viewed close to the eye with a single-point light source behind, produces a circular image displaying the note's denomination.
The window is fringed by maple leaves; at its top is a smaller version of the portrait, and at its bottom a light-refracting metallic likeness of an architectural feature from the parliament buildings.
The backs of the notes introduce new cultural and thematic imagery, but the literary quotation is not continued.
[19] On International Women's Day 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that an "iconic" Canadian woman would be featured on one of the upcoming notes.
[22] Beginning in 2018, newly designed Canadian banknotes (initially the $10 note) were vertical in orientation.
As of 1 January 2021, the $1, $2, $25, $500 and $1,000 bills from every Bank of Canada series are no longer legal tender.
+ Two varieties were printed, the first with conventional serial numbers, the second with the double date "1867–1967" appearing twice instead.
