Business & Personal Finance

The Bank of Canada began circulating Canada’s first polymer bank note on Monday, November 14, 2011. 

The new $100 bill features a portrait of Sir Robert Borden, Prime Minister of Canada between 1911 and 1920, on the front.  The reverse side features images that focus on Canadian innovations in the field of medicine: “from pioneering the discovery of insulin to treat diabetes, to the invention of the pacemaker, and to the role Canadian researchers have played in mapping the human genetic code”.

The new polymer bank note incorporates many innovative technologies from around the world that will make it difficult to counterfeit.  For instance, there is a large transparen't area that extends from the top to the bottom of the note and contains complex holographic features that can be viewed from both sides.  The Bank of Canada has produced an interesting video entitled “The New $100 Note” that encourages you to feel, look at and flip it so that you can see and identify its new security features.

There are also additional benefits.  The polymer bank notes will be more durable and are expected to last 2.5 times longer than the current cotton-paper bills. They will therefore be “more economical and will have a reduced environmental impact”.

In the near future, the following denominations will be issued as polymer bank notes:

The new $50 polymer note will be issued in March 2012.  A portrait of William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Canadian Prime Minister between 1921 and 1930 and again from 1935 to 1948, is on the front of the note.  The reverse side will feature “images of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen in the North, reflecting Canada’s leading role in Arctic research. It also evokes the part that Canada’s northern frontier—with its vastness and splendour—has played in shaping our cultural identity”.

The new $20 polymer note will begin circulating in late 2012, followed by the $10 and $5 notes by the end of 2013.  The themes of the other denomination will be:

$20  The Canadian National Vimy Memorial – evokes the contributions and sacrifices of Canadians in conflicts throughout our history.  (Portrait:  HM Queen Elizabeth II)

$10  The Canadian train – represents Canada's great technical feat of linking its eastern and western frontiers by what was, at the time, the longest railway every built.  (Portrait:  Sir John A. Macdonald)

$5  Canadarm2 and Dextre– symbolize Canada's continuing contribution to the international space program through robotics innovation.  (Portrait:  Sir Wilfrid Laurier)

You will have to wait in order to see what these notes will look like because their "specific designs and detailed images will not be released until their official unveiling dates".

For more information about Canada's polymer notes and their "new look and feel" as well as benefits, visit the Bank of Canada web site.