# Canada to move to plastic banknotes **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 4, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344 "2010-03-04T23:21:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/121 "2011-11-15T03:20:46Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Ahem. It is “pretty-colored plastic _real_ money.” Actually, I’ve thought that we could use some brightening up in our banknotes. Not that I’m not impressed by holograms and transparent bits. But then, my all-time favourite banknote design is the [Netherlands 50-gulden note of 1982](http://www.banknotes.com/nl96.htm). I guess I just like yellow. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/122 "2011-11-15T04:06:24Z")
[CTV News reports.](http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20111114/one-hundred-dollar-bill-111114/) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/123 "2011-11-15T04:18:15Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > [CTV News reports.](http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20111114/one-hundred-dollar-bill-111114/) I clicked the link, expecting a video report on the new note, but instead was treated to a talking head poking out of the sand on a beach advertising travellers’ diarrhea. So now I’m wondering how the new note compares with the old when it comes to wiping? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/124 "2011-11-15T04:27:13Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I clicked the link, expecting a video report on the new note, but instead was treated to a talking head poking out of the sand on a beach advertising travellers’ diarrhea. So now I’m wondering how the new note compares with the old when it comes to wiping? You wipe your arse with any form of money? You must be richer than I… (Yes, the video on the CTV website has ads. No, I don’t know a way offhand to get around them.) ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/125 "2011-11-15T04:43:51Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > November 14th is the day. There will be a release ceremony at the MaRS Centre in the Hospital District in Toronto to celebrate the release of the new banknote. Members of the Press will tour the medical research facilities and have an opportunity to purchase examples of the new banknote. [Link.](http://www.bankofcanada.ca/2011/11/media-advisories/bank-of-canada-begin-circulating-new-100-polymer-bank-note/) Why? What is the connection between a hospital and the new banknotes? ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/126 "2011-11-15T04:56:24Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Why? What is the connection between a hospital and the new banknotes? “The $100 note features a portrait of Sir Robert Borden, Prime Minister of Canada between 1911 and 1920, on the front and celebrates Canada’s contributions to innovation in the field of medicine on the back.” ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/127 "2011-11-15T05:06:14Z")
> [@Implicit](#): > > “The $100 note features a portrait of Sir Robert Borden, Prime Minister of Canada between 1911 and 1920, on the front and celebrates Canada’s contributions to innovation in the field of medicine on the back.” Specifically, the unveiling ceremony took place in the old Toronto General Hospital building, right near where insulin was discovered, and they had Dr. Banting’s desk on stage. And it was released on November 14th, World Diabetes Day. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/128 "2011-11-15T06:28:43Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Actually, I’ve thought that we could use some brightening up in our banknotes. Not that I’m not impressed by holograms and transparent bits. But then, my all-time favourite banknote design is the [Netherlands 50-gulden note of 1982](http://www.banknotes.com/nl96.htm). I guess I just like yellow. 🙂 Yes, but our American friends seem to think that anything that is not green in all denominations is somehow not real currency. As you and I know, **Sunspace** , this is not the case. I wil say that I do get tired of our American friends referring to our Canadian currency as “Monopoly money,” with the unstated implication that it is worth nothing. Canadian currency is freely traded on world markets, held in reserves by major world governments; and more personally, has worked for me in the UK, France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Australia, and Morocco. Americans should understand that their currency is just one of many accepted and traded worldwide–the US dollar is nothing special. If our currency is “Monopoly money,” then so are the currencies of the most valued curriencies on the planet: Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, GB pounds, Swiss Francs, Japanese Yen, and the Euro, etc. etc. etc. Seriously. Americans, do not judge a currency by the colours it keeps. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/129 "2011-11-15T07:51:22Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Specifically, the unveiling ceremony took place in the old Toronto General Hospital building, right near where insulin was discovered, and they had Dr. Banting’s desk on stage. And it was released on November 14th, World Diabetes Day. My grandmother was a University of Toronto student at the time of Dr. Banting’s discovery, and she was a classmate of the student who would become Dr. Charles Best as well. She always said Dr. Best got the wrong end of the stick, doing the research but being ineligible for the Nobel as he was not yet a physician. Grandma made sure that I knew that Dr. Best was one of the real Nobel winners (the other being Dr. Banting), regardless of whom the prize was awarded to. Today, my cat Denver is diabetic. He remains alive and happy, thanks to Drs. Banting and Best, and their discovery of insulin. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/130 "2011-11-15T16:23:55Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > My grandmother was a University of Toronto student at the time of Dr. Banting’s discovery, and she was a classmate of the student who would become Dr. Charles Best as well… Wow, that’s interesting. > [@Spoons](#): > > Today, my cat Denver is diabetic. He remains alive and happy, thanks to Drs. Banting and Best, and their discovery of insulin. Cats. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/131 "2011-11-15T16:50:48Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I wil say that I do get tired of our American friends referring to our Canadian currency as “Monopoly money…” I guess it comes down to what you’re used to. Monochromatic money looks less “real” to me. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/132 "2011-11-15T19:16:34Z")
I find Canadian bills a lot easier to use than American bills, for with the different US denominations all look the same, wherease the Canadian ones are all easiy distinguishable. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/133 "2011-11-16T22:02:27Z")
[Another YouTube video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvZcJjC9g3E) of the release of the banknotes, which includes an interview explaining some of the testing the notes went through. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/134 "2011-11-16T22:44:51Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Yes, but our American friends seem to think that anything that is not green in all denominations is somehow not real currency. As you and I know, **Sunspace** , this is not the case. > > I wil say that I do get tired of our American friends referring to our Canadian currency as “Monopoly money,” with the unstated implication that it is worth nothing. Canadian currency is freely traded on world markets, held in reserves by major world governments; and more personally, has worked for me in the UK, France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Australia, and Morocco. Americans should understand that their currency is just one of many accepted and traded worldwide–the US dollar is nothing special. If our currency is “Monopoly money,” then so are the currencies of the most valued curriencies on the planet: Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, GB pounds, Swiss Francs, Japanese Yen, and the Euro, etc. etc. etc. > > Seriously. Americans, do not judge a currency by the colours it keeps. 🙂 I probably enjoyed it a little too much when I was working in payment processing a couple of years ago, and I got to short-pay US American accounts because they sent a cheque in for the amount that they owed but it was in US dollars, which were worth significantly less than the Canadian dollar at the time. Sorry, after the conversion, you still owe us money!😃 ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/135 "2011-11-17T17:23:22Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > So people won’t freak out and go “WTF is this in my wallet?” I guess? They’re different enough from the old ones that people had to be informed of all the new features. Plus, presumably, all sorts of things like note dispensers and acceptors had to be adjusted. This happened around 1996 in the US when they introduced the “large portrait” 20’s. US money had hardly changed in decades (some of the bill designs were literally out of the Great Depression with barely noticeable minor tweaks). Some people apparently though they were counterfeit. When the multicolor (other than black and green) bills came out (the purple 5, the yellow and red 10, the green, blue, and peach 20, and the red and blue 50), there was barely a whimper. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/136 "2011-11-20T06:59:58Z")
I am now wondering whether the adjustments required for ATMs are great enough that an ATM can be set to dispense paper notes, or plastic notes, but not both mixed together. Since the vast majority of our ATMs give out twenties, will they need to converted one by one and stocked only with polymer from then on? Any Australians or New Zealanders have relevant experience? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/137 "2011-11-20T07:27:58Z")
> [@Baffle](#): > > They are far, far, far better in every way, with no down-sides. Try to get the Yanks to adopt them… you’ll soon have an encyclopedia full of downsides. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/138 "2011-11-21T04:06:33Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I am now wondering whether the adjustments required for ATMs are great enough that an ATM can be set to dispense paper notes, or plastic notes, but not both mixed together. Since the vast majority of our ATMs give out twenties, will they need to converted one by one and stocked only with polymer from then on? Any Australians or New Zealanders have relevant experience? IIRC from the date of changeover, no banks gave out anything other than the new money. So at or at about the changeover point the ATMs just started giving out entirely plastic. Presumably there was much behind the scenes adjustment to make this happen. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/139 "2011-11-21T05:11:47Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > IIRC from the date of changeover, no banks gave out anything other than the new money. So at or at about the changeover point the ATMs just started giving out entirely plastic. Presumably there was much behind the scenes adjustment to make this happen. It’s a long time ago now (20 years?), but I vaguely recall the introduction of the polymer notes being staggered by denomination: the $5 note, followed by the $10 note etc. So the ATMs must have given out a mixture of paper and polymer notes during that period, surely? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344/140 "2011-11-21T06:14:42Z")
Having looked it up, you are completely right, **Cunctator**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-to-move-to-plastic-banknotes/531344.md?page=8)