Canada has been fraught with fraudulent bills recently, so it's important to know how to tell if your Canadian bills are real or not. Avoid getting saddled with fake cash by knowing what to look for. Below is a guide on what to look out for on each of the Bank of Canada's polymer bank notes to ensure that they are, in fact, cold hard Canadian cash. TL;DR With an upswing in counterfeit cash in Canada, it's important to know what to look for so you can ensure your bills are always authentic bank notes. Below are some tips for ensure that each Canadian bank note is legitimate. Business owners obviously run the highest risk of ending up with bogus bills, but that doesn't mean that us regular folk shouldn't know the ins-and-outs of Canadian banknotes, too. When accepting cash for a transaction, you can now look for these items and be confident you've got the real deal. Not only are there cool security features, but the Bank of Canada also takes time and puts in effort to make our bank notes beautiful, historical, and meaningful. 5 Dollar Bill Via Bank of Canada The Portrait: Sir Wilfrid Laurier (Prime Minister, 1896-1911) Feel the raised ink. The Building: The West Block of Parliament Look at the metallic building. Tilt it to watch it change colour. Flip to see it from the other side. The Stars The five stars represent the $5 denomination of the bill. 10 Dollar Bill Via Bank of Canada The Portrait: Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald Feel the raised ink. The Building: The Library of Parliament Look at the metallic building. Tilt it to watch it change colour. Flip to see it from the other side. The Canadian Rockies Instead of a single line of mountains, a collage of several mountains is featured, with peaks and ranges from across the Rockies layered upon each other. 20 Dollar Bill Via Bank of Canada The Portrait: Queen Elizabeth II Feel the raised ink. The Building: The Peace Tower Look at the metallic building. Tilt it to watch it change colour. Flip to see it from the other side. The time displayed on the clock is 11 o'clock to signify the armistice, what we celebrate on Remembrance Day. 50 Dollar Bill Via Bank of Canada The Portrait: William Lyon Mackenzie King Feel the raised ink. The Building: The Centre Block of Parliament Look at the metallic building. Tilt it to watch it change colour. Flip to see it from the other side. "Arctic" in Inuktitut Above the map of Canada's Northern Regions, there is the Inuktitut script for the word, "Arctic," verified by the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami organization. 100 Dollar Bill Via Bank of Canada The Portrait: Sir Robert Borden (Prime Minister, 1911-1920) Feel the raised ink. The Building: The East Block Tower of Parliament Look at the metallic building. Tilt it to watch it change colour. Flip to see it from the other side. The Electrocardiogram Track Symbolizing the invention of the pacemaker by Canadian John Hopps, the ECG track illustration shows the pattern of a healthy human heart. On Every Bill Via Bank of Canada Some security features are present on each of the bank notes and are indicators that your bills are indeed the real deal. The Maple Leaf The frosted maple leaf has a transparent outline allowing you to look through the window around the leaf. Raised Ink The words, "Bank of Canada" and "Banque du Canada" are all written in a raised ink that you can feel with your fingers. The large numbers and the word, "Canada," within the hologram are also written using raised ink. Metallic Portrait and Hologram The metallic portrait hologram matches the large portrait and can also be tilted and flipped. The numbers here match the note's value and the maple leaves border and cross into the large transparent window. The Bank of Canada's full interactive guide to each of the polymer bills can be found here. They have a 360-degree interactive image that lets you take in all the little details and read all the historical facts.
