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Canadian banknotes are the Banknote s 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 .


CANADIAN JOURNEY

Beginning in 2001, the Bank of Canada introduced a new series of bills: 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 . Called "Canadian Journey", this series features elements of Canadian heritage and excerpts from Canadian Literature . The $20, $50, and $100 notes introduce Watermark security features for the first time on Canadian currency; 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:
  • $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)

  • $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)

  • $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 (Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

  • $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)



REMOVAL OF $1 AND $2 BILLS

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.




LIST OF BANK NOTES


All 1986 and 2001 series bills measure 152.4 mm by 69.85 mm (6 by 2¾ inches).

See also Withdrawn Canadian Banknotes .


URBAN LEGENDS

A number of Urban Legend s 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.")



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