Canadian five-dollar note

The Canadian five-dollar note is the lowest denomination and one of the most common banknotes of the Canadian dollar.

Five dollars

(Canada)
Value	5 Canadian dollars
Width	152.4 mm
Height	69.85 mm
Security features	Holographic stripe, watermark, EURion constellation, tactile marks, registration device, raised printing, UV printing
Material used	Polymer
Obverse
Design	Portrait: Wilfrid Laurier, prime minister from 1896 to 1911
Design date	25 March 2013
Reverse
Design	Canadarm2 and Dextre
Design date	25 March 2013

As with all modern Canadian banknotes, all text is in both English and French (see Official bilingualism in Canada).

Frontier series note

The most recent Canadian five-dollar note, part of the Frontier series, is predominantly blue and was introduced 7 November 2013, using the same technology found in the other notes of that series. The bill features a portrait of Canada's seventh prime minister, Wilfrid Laurier, and a hologram of the Mackenzie Tower from the West Block on Parliament Hill on the front; the back features an astronaut working with Dextre attached to the Canadarm2.

This note features raised, textured printing as well as a special tactile feature (similar to Braille dots) to assist the blind in identifying the denomination. Security features include 'BANK OF CANADA' and 'BANQUE DU CANADA' visible only under ultraviolet light, and yellow dots representing the EURion constellation on the reverse side.

Canadian Journey note

The front of the previous note, from the Canadian Journey series, also features Wilfrid Laurier, the coat of arms, and a picture of the West Block of the Parliament buildings, but in a different layout from the Frontier series note. The reverse side depicts children engaged in winter sports, including sledding, ice skating, and hockey; this is accompanied by a quotation from Roch Carrier's short story, "The Hockey Sweater":

Les hivers de mon enfance étaient des saisons longues, longues. Nous vivions en trois lieux: l'école, l'église et la patinoire; mais la vraie vie était sur la patinoire.

The winters of my childhood were long, long seasons. We lived in three places—the school, the church and the skating rink—but our real life was on the skating rink.

In the image, one of the hockey players, notably a girl, wears a hockey sweater number 9 to honour Canadian hockey legend Maurice Richard, idolized in Carrier's story.

Series history

Series	Main colour	Obverse	Reverse	Series year	Issued	Withdrawn
1935 Series	Orange	Edward, Prince of Wales	Electric power allegory	1935	11 March 1935
1937 Series	Blue	George VI	Electric power allegory	1937	19 July 1937
1954 Series	Blue	Elizabeth II	A country scene, Richmond, Quebec	1954	9 September 1954
Scenes of Canada	Blue	Wilfrid Laurier	Salmon seiner BCP 45 in Johnstone Strait, British Columbia	1972	4 December 1972	1 October 1979
				1979	1 October 1979	28 April 1986
Birds of Canada	Blue	Wilfrid Laurier	Belted kingfisher	1986	28 April 1986	27 March 2002
Canadian Journey	Blue	Wilfrid Laurier	Children playing hockey, tobogganing, and skating; excerpt from "The Hockey Sweater" by Roch Carrier	2002	27 March 2002	15 November 2006
				2006	15 November 2006	7 November 2013
Frontier	Blue	Wilfrid Laurier	Canadarm2 and Dextre	2013	7 November 2013

Five-dollar coin

In 2005, the Canadian government polled its citizens on the idea of retiring the five-dollar note, replacing it with a five-dollar coin. The money saved in making the coin would then fund the Canadian Olympic team. Canadians resoundingly rejected and ridiculed the idea of a five-dollar coin. Some pointed out the note's most recent redesign took place only four years prior, while many others were averse to the idea of carrying yet another coin in their wallets and pockets. Due to the overwhelmingly negative response, plans for the five-dollar coin were discarded. Instead, on 15 November 2006, the Bank of Canada released an updated version of the five-dollar note (issue of 2006) with updated security features, including a holographic stripe found in the rest of the series, and a watermark of Laurier that appears when held to the light. These features replaced the iridescent maple leaves that were in the issue of 2002.

"Spocking Fives"

An example of "Spocking" using a portrait of Laurier from 1907, a similar portrait to the one used on the Canadian Journey Series $5-bill.

For years, Canadians have been known to deface certain editions of the five-dollar note by using ink pens to alter Laurier's features to resemble Spock, the Star Trek character originally portrayed by Leonard Nimoy. In 2002, the Bank of Canada officially objected to "any mutilation or defacement of banknotes", which could shorten the lifespan of the currency. When "Spocking" surged in 2015 following Nimoy's death, the Bank reminded people that, while the practice is not illegal and the notes remain legal tender and "a symbol of our country and a source of national pride", defacing the bill could damage its security features and lead retailers to refuse them. The 2013 issue of the note features an image of Laurier with less resemblance to Spock.

Polymer notes

In 2020, a short-list of eight "bank NOTE-able" Canadians to be portrayed on the $5 vertical polymer bills in place of Laurier was selected from 600 nominees: Terry Fox, Crowfoot, Pitseolak Ashoona, Robertine Barry, Binaaswi, Won Alexander Cumyow, Lotta Hitschmanova and Fred Loft, with the final decision to be made by the Minister of Finance. In 2023, it was reported that Laurier will stay on the five-dollar bill for some time.

External links

• Bank of Canada's banknote page