Bank notes: Resources for financial institutions

This section features training materials to help employees of financial institutions learn about Canadian bank notes.

These tools will help front-line tellers and high-volume cash handlers in back offices offer quality notes to Canadians. You will learn:

• how to verify the security features of bank notes
• about quality standards and best practices for handling, sorting and packaging bank notes

Armed with this knowledge, you will continue to be at the forefront in the fight against counterfeiting.

Training seminars

The Bank provides free training seminars through our offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, Montréal and Halifax. These presentations can be customized to suit your organization's needs. Topics include:

• verifying security features
• dealing with suspected counterfeits
• sorting fit, unfit, mutilated and contaminated notes
• packaging polymer and paper notes

Duration: 60 to 90 minutes, depending on the content covered

For more information, please call 1‑800‑303‑1282.

Dealing with suspicious money

The timely submission of suspected counterfeit notes helps police respond to counterfeiting activity. If you receive a suspected counterfeit note (Canadian or U.S.) at a branch of a financial institution or at a regional distribution centre (RDC), you should:

• contact the local police
• give the suspected counterfeit note to police in a timely fashion with any information that would help a possible investigation (e.g., name of depositor, date of deposit)

For RDCs: No-history suspected counterfeit notes

If you receive a suspected counterfeit note where the origin of the note cannot be traced (i.e., a no-history note), enter the required details into the Note Exchange System (NES) (e.g., enter the transit number of the branch that originally submitted the suspected counterfeit note). The note should be packaged and shipped to a Bank of Canada Agency Operations Centre.

Suspected U.S. counterfeit notes and other foreign currency, regardless of whether the origin of the note can be traced, should be submitted to local law enforcement.

Forms

This RCMP form should be used by:

• financial institutions and retailers to submit suspected counterfeit notes to their local police and
• police agencies to submit suspected counterfeit notes to the RCMP’s National Anti-Counterfeiting Bureau

Training materials to download or order

Disclaimer

The Bank of Canada offers free, postage-paid materials, but reserves the right to limit quantities.

The Bank may contact the requestor prior to shipping to verify that certain audience-specific resources are destined for the right users.