Some Bank Notes Will No Longer Be Valid in Canada Soon

Spend your $1,000 bills before it’s too late, Mississauga.

With Canada’s Budget 2018 in the works, some very interesting developments are bound to arise. One salient item in this year’s budget document is that some bank notes will no longer be considered legal tender.

According to the Bank of Canada, the Budget 2018 remove legal tender status from the $1, $2, $25, $500 and $1,000 bank notes.

“Removing legal tender status from these older notes is expected to have little impact on most Canadians, as these denominations have not been produced in decades and are rarely used in transactions,” said the Bank of Canada in a recent statement. “Importantly, removal of legal tender status does not mean these notes will lose their face value; the Bank of Canada will continue to honour them.”

So, the only way to redeem your notes will be through the Bank of Canada going forward.

“If the government is granted this power, the Bank of Canada will provide clear information to Canadians on how to redeem the affected bank notes,” said the Bank of Canada.

“This will involve a period during which the notes can be redeemed through financial institutions–as Canadians can do today. After this period, the notes can be redeemed directly through the Bank of Canada.”

It’s true that these are old denominations and it might be rare for Canadians to have them lying around, but if you do and you don’t want to keep them for sentimental value (I’ve seen people hoard vintage $2 bills!), it’s a good idea to redeem them now through a financial institution.

Photo courtesy of the Bank of Canada