Canada’s old bank notes to lose status in stores in 2021

Canadians still holding on to old paper money are running out of time to spend it in stores.

Some bank notes made between 1935 and 1986 will lose the government’s legal tender status at midnight.

The Bank of Canada’s website says the affected notes can still be redeemed or deposited for their face value at a bank or by the central bank, but may not be spent at stores.

The legal tender policy change only covers bank notes that are no longer being produced, including $1, $2, $25, $500 and $1,000 notes.

The Bank of Canada says the affected notes are so rare that they are hardly seen or recognized by store clerks and some are worth more to collectors than in circulation.

The long-awaited policy change puts Canada in line with other central banks, like the Bank of England, since newer notes have better security features and are harder to counterfeit.