View source for Canadian five-dollar note

{{Short description|Canadian banknote}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox banknote
| country = Canada
| denomination = Five dollars
| unit = 5 [[ Canadian dollar]]s
| width_mm = 152.4
| height_mm = 69.85
| security_features = Holographic stripe, [[watermark]], [[EURion constellation]], tactile marks, registration device, raised printing, [[Ultraviolet|UV]] printing
| paper_type = [[Polymer]]
| years_of_printing =
| obverse = Canadian $5 note specimen - face.jpg
| obverse_design = Portrait: [[Wilfrid Laurier]], prime minister from 1896 to 1911
| obverse_designer =
| obverse_design_date = 25 March 2013
| reverse = Canadian $5 note specimen - back.jpg
| reverse_design = [[Canadarm2]] and [[Dextre]]
| reverse_designer =
| reverse_design_date = 25 March 2013
}}

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

As with all modern Canadian banknotes, all text is in both English and French {{Xref|text=(see [[Official bilingualism in Canada]])}}.

==Frontier series note==

The most recent Canadian five-dollar note, part of the [[Frontier (banknotes)|Frontier series]], is predominantly blue<!--as were its predecsssors--> and was introduced 7 November 2013, using the same technology found in the other notes of that series.<ref>{{cite news|title=Vancouver is first city to see new plastic $10 bills|url=https://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-is-first-city-to-see-new-plastic-10-bills-1.1532173|date=7 November 2013|publisher=CTV News|accessdate=21 September 2019}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Focus groups found Bank of Canada's new five-dollar bill 'too cartoonish'|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/04/28/focus-group-found-bank-of-canadas-new-five-dollar-bill-too-cartoonish/|accessdate=10 March 2015|work=National Post|date=28 April 2013}}</ref>

This note features raised, textured printing as well as a special [[Canadian currency tactile feature|tactile feature]] (similar to [[Braille]] dots) to assist the [[blindness|blind]] in identifying the denomination. Security features include "Bank of Canada" and "{{lang|fr|Banque du Canada}}" visible only under [[ultraviolet]] light, and yellow dots representing the [[EURion constellation]] on the reverse side.

On December 16, 2024, the [[Bank of Canada]] announced that famed Canadian athlete and cancer research advocate [[Terry Fox]] will be the new face of the bill.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Terry Fox is bank NOTE-able |url=https://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes/bank-note-series/vertical-series/our-next-5-bank-note/banknoteable-5/terry-fox-is-banknoteable/ |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=www.bankofcanada.ca |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Canadian Journey note ==
The front of the previous note, from the [[Canadian Journey|Canadian Journey series]], also features Wilfrid Laurier, the [[Coat of Arms of Canada|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 sport]]s, including [[sledding]], [[ice skating]], and [[ice hockey|hockey]]; this is accompanied by a quotation from [[Roch Carrier]]'s short story, "[[The Hockey Sweater]]":
<blockquote>{{lang|fr|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.}}</blockquote>
<blockquote>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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://canadian-writers.athabascau.ca/french/writers/rcarrier/rcarrier.php |title=French-Canadian Writers: Roch Carrier |publisher=Athabasca University |accessdate=5 February 2013}}</ref></blockquote>

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

==Series history==
{|class="wikitable""
! Series !!Main colour !! Obverse !! Reverse !! Series year !! Issued !! Withdrawn
|-
|[[1935 Series (banknotes)|1935 Series]]
|{{colour box|#da8b64}} Orange
|[[Edward VIII|Edward, Prince of Wales]]
|Electric power allegory
|1935
|11 March 1935
|
|-
|[[1937 Series (banknotes)|1937 Series]]
|{{color box|#99a3ce}} Blue
|[[George VI]]
|Electric power allegory
|1937
|19 July 1937
|
|-
|[[1954 Series (banknotes)|1954 Series]]
|{{color box|#99a3ce}} Blue
|[[Elizabeth II]]
|A country scene, Richmond, Quebec
|1954
|9 September 1954
|
|-
|rowspan=2|[[Scenes of Canada (banknotes)|Scenes of Canada]]
|rowspan=2| {{color box|#99a3ce}} Blue
|rowspan=2|[[Wilfrid Laurier]]
|rowspan=2|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 (banknotes)|Birds of Canada]]
|{{color box|#99a3ce}} Blue
|[[Wilfrid Laurier|Wilfrid&nbsp;Laurier]]
|[[Belted kingfisher]]
|1986
|28 April 1986
|27 March 2002
|-
|rowspan=2|[[Canadian Journey]]
|rowspan=2|{{color box|#99a3ce}} Blue
|rowspan=2|[[Wilfrid Laurier]]
|rowspan=2|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 (banknotes)|Frontier]]
| {{color box|#99a3ce}} Blue
|[[Wilfrid Laurier]]
|[[Mobile Servicing System|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.<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/5-coin-ridiculous-1.558894 $5 coin? 'Ridiculous']. CBC News, 22 August 2005.</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/press/2006/pr06-17.html Bank of Canada Issues Upgraded $5 Bank Note]. 15 November 2006.</ref> These features replaced the iridescent maple leaves that were in the issue of 2002.

=="Spocking Fives"==
[[File:Wilfrid Laurier in 1907 (Spocked).JPG|thumb|upright|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]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dangerousminds.net/comments/bank_of_canada_urges_star_trek_fans_to_stop_spocking_their_fivers |title=Bank of Canada Urges 'Star Trek' Fans To Stop 'Spocking' Their Fivers |author= Tara McGinley |publisher=DangerousMinds.net |date=4 March 2015 |accessdate=14 July 2015}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Spocking>{{cite web|last=Koerber|first=Brian|url=http://mashable.com/2015/03/01/canadians-spock-bills/|title=Canadians 'Spock' their $5 bills to honor Leonard Nimoy|website=[[Mashable]]|date=1 March 2015|accessdate=5 March 2015}}</ref> 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]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Your candidates for the next $5 bank note |author= |website=Bank of Canada |date= |access-date=2 May 2021 |url= https://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes/banknoteable-5/nominees/}}</ref> with the final decision to be made by the Minister of Finance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The next bank NOTE-able Canadian |author= |website=Bank of Canada |date= |access-date=2 May 2021 |url= https://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes/banknoteable-5/#what-happens-next }}</ref> In 2023, it was reported that Laurier will stay on the five-dollar bill for some time.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tasker |first=John Paul |date=14 July 2023 |title=Sir Wilfrid Laurier is staying put on the $5 bill — for now |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wilfrid-laurier-5-banknote-1.6906081 |access-date=26 March 2024 |work=CBC News}}</ref> On December 16, 2024, it was announced that the image of Terry Fox would be replacing Laurier's image on the next edition of the $5 banknote, with an image of Laurier being used for the [[Canadian fifty-dollar note|$50 note]] when a new design of that note is implemented.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zimonjic |first=Peter |date=December 16, 2024 |title=Terry Fox on the $5, big money for the border — what we learned from the economic statement |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fall-economic-statement-five-things-1.7411901 |work=CBC}}</ref>

==References==
{{Portal|Canada|Money|Numismatics}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes/bank-note-series/ Bank of Canada's banknote page]

{{Canadian currency and coinage}}

[[Category:Banknotes of Canada by denomination|5]]
[[Category:Wilfrid Laurier]]
[[Category:Five-base-unit banknotes]]