Yes, it's okay to spend. Our money doesn't expire, though if you have any $50 or $100 bills I suggest you take those to a bank and have them exchanged for $20, $10, $5 or change (loonies, toonies, and quarters are still useful coins; dimes make a handy makeshift screwdriver if you need one and don't have it). Many stores refuse to accept $50 and $100 bills due to suspicion of counterfeiting. We don't use pennies anymore, so if you pay electronically the amount will come out to the exact penny, whereas if you're paying cash the amount is rounded up/down to the nearest nickel.I can't seem to find much information on the Internet about this so I figured I would ask here. Be advised that this may be considered a silly question, and much apologizings if this is the case.
Anyhoo, here's the thingy. I am about to take a trip to Canada and I was wondering if the Canadian cash I have is still valid.
I got that cash from my dad, who had it laying around in his office. Most of the bills and coins are from the mid to late 90’s although some of them are as old as 1982.
Can I still spend this money when I come up there, or is it no longer valid? If the latter, what should I do? Can I get it exchanged for newer bills and coins at a Canadian bank? Should I do this anyway?
Also be mindful that there are special series of coins (ie. Olympic quarters, Remembrance Day quarters with red poppies in the center, and others). They're spendable, and not anything weird or dangerous (a couple of American tourists freaked out some years ago when they got a Remembrance Day poppy quarter in their change).
It's been decades since we've used $1 and $2 bills, though they're still legal tender. A clerk born after 1990 or so probably wouldn't have a clue what they were, though, and might think they're fake.
If you go to Canadian Tire, you might end up with some Canadian Tire money, which is actually accepted at some other places, depending on the manager's whim. If you don't want to use it, Canadian Tire keeps a large charity box so people can just donate it (not sure what charity gets it, but charities do find it useful, as it means a break on buying supplies, etc.).
Polymer money. They're awful things; be mindful that the bills sometimes stick together, so make sure you're not handing over two when you only intend to use one.
I still remember when Lake Louise was on the back of the $20 bill. Our money used to be more artistic (in the good sense, not in the counterfeiting sense). The birds were nice, though.I still spend, and get in change, the 2001 "Canadian Journey" series fairly regularly, but they are now just starting to become a little more scarce. I'm guessing yours are from the 1986 "Birds of Canada" series? I will occasionally see some of these bills pop up, but they're not really common.Mr. Laser Beam said:
If you're concerned, a bank should be able to replace them for you... at full face value!
Note that we don't make $1 or $2 bills anymore, so if you have any of those, you might want to hold on to them just to say you have some!
For reference, all the Bank of Canada bank note series can be seen here.
(And enjoy your visit!)
$50s are pink. The blue ones are the $5 bills. $10 are purple, and $20 are green. $100 are brown, and $1000 are red, though they haven't been in circulation for a long time (they were withdrawn to make it more inconvenient for organized crime - ie. drug trade - to move large amounts of cash around).
Loonies are gold-colored and toonies are gold-colored in the center and silver-colored on the outside.
Fun fact: A 35mm film canister is the perfect size to hold $25 in loonies.
The last time I was in the States was in the late '80s, when Sylvester McCoy was touring the PBS stations to promote Doctor Who (he'd just taken over the part). A friend and I went to Spokane on Labor Day weekend to meet him, and while we were at the station my friend decided to renew her PBS membership. She did it in Canadian funds (the Spokane station takes Canadian money at par), but needed change... and so I took out my wallet to find change for her and suddenly had a crowd of Americans around me, marveling at the different colors of Canadian money. One of my $10s and a $5 got passed around so people could look at them (yes, I got them back!).
