How can I spend older Canadian money?
I'm going to Toronto later this year. I have some older Canadian currency on hand that I would like to spend. I understand Canada has recently transitioned to polymer banknotes, so I am wondering how easy it will be to use my old money.
Some of my notes are dated 1979, showing a decidedly youthful Queen:
And the rest are dated 2004. Her Majesty now appears as an elder stateswoman:
How easy will it be to spend these banknotes? Are they likely to be accepted at ordinary shops, cafes and restaurants? Should I plan to go to a bank to change them, and will they do this for someone without an account? Or is there some other procedure?
Best Answer
The Bank of Canada addresses this in their FAQ on the new polymer notes:
All notes issued by the Bank of Canada since 1935 have legal tender status and retain their full value. If you don't know how to check notes from past series, exchange them for newer ones at your local bank.
You should have no trouble spending them, though if you just want to be sure, any bank will be able to exchange them for a new polymer note for you.
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Can you still use old Canadian money?
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Answer 2
They are accepted everywhere. The new notes are a fairly recent introduction and so we still see a good number of older bills, particularly for smaller denominations.
In fact, the transition to polymer notes is not even fully adopted. Just last month, the parking machine at the hospital had a note on it saying to see the guard on duty to change them to paper notes before using the machine.
What has been phased out are pennies. Amounts are now rounded to the nearest 5c. If you do have a substantial amount of change, some banks have counting machines and will convert them. Electronic transactions though are still calculated to the penny.
Answer 3
I spent about $2000 of notes from the 60s to 90s recently. (2015) I was refused in one place where the waitress had just arrived from East Africa (so fair enough) Everywhere else gladly took them, although every second transaction was a bit like the scene from Star Wars when the rebels try to enter the Imperial battle station (?) and they say to Darth Vader 'it's an old code but a good one' or something like that. One waiter in Toronto bought many notes for himself.
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