Canada is Turning 150: Celebrate with a Trip to a Bank Near You

The Canada 150 commemorative bank note is now making its way to a financial institution near you.

On 1 July, Canada will celebrate 150 years of Confederation, and the Bank of Canada is marking this milestone with a special $10 bank note. It came into circulation officially on 1 June, and you can get one simply by visiting your local financial institution. Most branches will have a supply of notes to distribute over the counter for a period of time. The Bank will issue a total of 40 million of these notes and has worked with financial institutions to make them available to Canadians across the country.

The commemorative note will circulate alongside the current $10 note in the Polymer series. The existing note will continue to represent the majority of $10 notes in circulation for the life of the current series.

The Canada 150 note celebrates Confederation with a unique design depicting our history, land and culture. The front of the note features Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir George-Étienne Cartier, Agnes Macphail and James Gladstone—four parliamentarians who played significant roles in Canada’s history. The back of the note presents five landscapes from different regions across the country: the West Coast, the Prairie provinces, Central Canada, the Atlantic provinces and the North.

While this note was intended to commemorate Canada’s 150th anniversary, it was also designed with security in mind. The Canada 150 note has a number of security features—some new and others similar to the features on the current series of polymer notes.

One new feature on the front of the note is a brightly coloured arch that represents an arch located inside the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill. When you tilt the note, the checkered pattern in the arch moves up and down and shifts from green to blue.

Also on the front of the note, at the bottom of the window, are three-dimensional maple leaves. They appear to be raised, but when touched the surface is actually flat. In addition, the note has raised ink on both the front and back. Together with the polymer material, large transparent window, metallic symbols and images, these security features make the Canada 150 note very secure and difficult to counterfeit.

Visit www.bankofcanada.ca/banknote150 to learn more about the design and security features of the Canada 150 note. Follow the Bank on Twitter (@bankofcanada) for the latest information about this special note.