New bills coming

Imagine if you worked for a company that made money - literally. For the two secure printing companies in Ottawa, their business is exactly that.

Once the Bank of Canada's extensive bank note research, development and design work is done, the printing begins, and Canada's new polymer notes finally get off the drawing board and into production.

Security

Canada's polymer notes are state-of-the-art, and are among the most technologically advanced in the world.

The printing methods have withstood the test of time and are essentially the same as they have been for decades. The innovation comes from combining traditional printing techniques with new inks, polymer material, transparent areas, detailed metallic image elements and other security features.

At the printers, several presses apply ink that reveals the detailed work of the engraver's design. Once the serial numbers and a protective varnish are applied, the sheets are cut and the notes are packaged and sent to the Bank of Canada.

These printing methods - together with the material on which they're applied - create the feel we associate with bank notes. Whether we're conscious of it or not, just by fishing in our pocket, we know a $20 bill from a grocery receipt by its feel.

With polymer as the base material for this new series of bank notes, the feel of our money will change but be just as easy to handle.

Quality

Canada's new notes will also be far more durable. The life expectancy of a polymer note is at least 2.5 times longer than its paper counterpart. And since polymer notes will be in better shape for a longer period of time, the Bank of Canada is raising the bar on quality.

Quality control is paramount to the Bank. Throughout the production process, every new batch of notes is examined to ensure machine-readable features work and all visible features meet specifications.

"Ensuring integrity and consistency from one note to another is not only important for security and functionality reasons, it reflects the pride we have in our work," says Richard Wall, Director of Bank Note Production and Distribution.

Availability

In preparation for the November release of the $100, the presses are now rolling and printing large quantities of new polymer notes. There are currently 290 million cotton-paper $100s in circulation that will need replacing.

Canadians may be surprised to learn that despite all of today's alternatives to cash, the demand for bank notes continues to increase. Economic growth is one factor that affects the demand, but the driving force is replacement. It's a continual process of calculating the volume of new notes needed to replace worn and damaged ones.

So while security against counterfeiting is always the Bank's top priority for a new series of notes, quality and availability are also essential.

Visit www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes and watch the Production video. It's the third in a five-part series called The Life of a Bank Note: From the Lab to Your Wallet.