The Bank of Canada Unveils New $100 Bank Note

The Bank of Canada today unveiled Canada's new $100 bank note, which will go into circulation beginning 17 March. The new note was unveiled in Halifax by the Honourable Robert Thibault, Member of Parliament for West Nova, Nova Scotia, David Dodge, Governor of the Bank of Canada, Marc Garneau, President of the Canadian Space Agency and former astronaut, and Daniel Gallivan, a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Canada.

"The use of cash keeps growing every year, and it is crucial that Canadians have complete confidence in our bank notes," Governor Dodge said. "The new $100 bill is one that all Canadians can use with comfort and with pride."

The redesigned $100 note includes state-of-the-art anti-counterfeiting features that will further enhance the security of Canada's currency. The new security features include a metallic holographic stripe, a watermarked portrait, a windowed colour-shifting thread, and a see-through number. The note also incorporates some familiar security features, such as raised ink (intaglio), fine-line printing, and improved fluorescence under ultraviolet lighting.

"These security features are reliable, quick, and easy for everybody to use and difficult for counterfeiters to reproduce. Canadians can have confidence that their high-denomination bank notes will be readily accepted," Governor Dodge said.

"With this bank note, we are celebrating the spirit of exploration and innovation that has ensured Canada's place in the world," said Mr. Thibault. "I believe that Canadians will take a great deal of pride in this design."

To help blind and vision-impaired people easily identify different denominations of money, the new $100 note also includes a tactile feature (raised dots), large, high-contrast numerals, and codes that can be read by a portable electronic reader distributed through the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.

As it prepares to issue the new notes beginning 17 March, the Bank of Canada is working with law-enforcement agencies, financial institutions, and the retail and hospitality industries to familiarize them with the security features of the new $100 note.

The Bank of Canada plans to introduce new $20 and $50 notes later this year. Bank notes from previous series remain legal tender.