Frontier (banknotes)
The Frontier series is the seventh series of banknotes of the Canadian dollar released by the Bank of Canada, first circulated in 2011. The polymer banknotes were designed for increased durability and to incorporate more security features over the preceding 2001 Canadian Journey series. The notes feature images that focus on historic Canadian achievements and innovation. Printed on polymer, the 2011 Frontier series was the first series issued by the Bank of Canada printed on a material other than paper. The 2011 Frontier series is being followed by the Vertical series.
The banknotes were designed by the Canadian Bank Note Company, which also prints the banknotes. They were revealed in June 2011. To familiarize Canadians with the new banknotes, each banknote was introduced through national and regional unveiling events and advertising campaigns before being put into circulation. The $100 banknote was released into circulation on 14 November 2011, the $50 banknote on 26 March 2012, and the $20 banknote on 7 November 2012. The $5 banknote was unveiled by Chris Hadfield from the International Space Station during Expedition 35 and first circulated on 7 November 2013. The $10 banknote was first circulated the same day after a ceremony at Pacific Central Station in Vancouver.
At the time of its adoption of the technology, Canada was the largest of over 30 nations, and the first G8 country, to use polymer thin films for printing currency.
Background
The primary impetus for the new banknotes was "the need to stay ahead of counterfeiters". By 2002, 10% of retailers in some parts of Canada refused to accept the $100 banknotes of the 1986 Birds of Canada series in financial transactions, and by 2004, the counterfeit ratio for Canadian currency had risen to 470 parts per million. As of 2011, over half of all retail transactions in Canada were made using cash.Between 1995 and 1998, the Bank of Canada tested a substrate trademarked as "Luminus" consisting of a polymer core sheet layered between two paper sheets for use in printing banknotes. It printed 100,000 experimental $5 Birds of Canada banknotes. In June 1998, the Bank of Canada prepared to use Luminus as the substrate for the 2001 Canadian Journey series, but in December 1999, the manufacturer withdrew its supply bid because it could not produce the substrate at the scale required by the Bank of Canada for printing banknotes. The bank printed the 2001 Canadian Journey series on a cotton fibre substrate with similar surface characteristics to Luminus so that it could transition production to using the polymer substrate when scale production issues were resolved. The Bank of Canada also secured Canadian rights for Luminus and continued to develop the substrate for future use.
The use of polymer as a substrate was considered in part because access to the polymer substrate could be controlled, and replicating the chemical and physical recipe would be difficult. The practice of restricting access to the substrate used for manufacturing money existed as early as the 13th century, during which Chinese rulers stationed guards at mulberry forests, as mulberry bark was used to produce paper money.
Use of a polymer substrate in the upcoming banknotes was announced by Jim Flaherty in the 2010 Canadian federal budget speech on 4 March 2010, at which time he also announced that in the future the loonie and toonie would be made of steel instead of nickel to reduce manufacturing costs. Canada became the ninth country to print all its banknotes using a polymer substrate, following Australia, Bermuda, Brunei, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Romania, and Vietnam.
Development
The Bank of Canada began planning for the Frontier series in 2005. It used a team of chemists, physicists, and engineers it had assembled for the development of the 2001 Canadian Journey series to determine potential counterfeiting threats and assess substrate materials and potential security features for use in banknote designs. Once the technical evaluation of materials and security features was complete, the Bank of Canada created a formal set of guidelines specifying "the combination of security features and substrate" that it issued to bank note manufacturing and design companies. The resultant bid designs were evaluated for technical, security, and financial merit.Once the design and substrate were chosen, the Bank of Canada negotiated a contract with Note Printing Australia for the supply of the substrate polymer and the security features implemented in the design. The substrate is supplied to NPA by Securency International. The Bank also negotiated for the rights to the use of intellectual property associated with the material and security features owned by the Reserve Bank of Australia. The Bank of Canada issued a press release stating its intention to issue new banknotes in 2011.
A study commissioned by the Bank of Canada was conducted by the University of Waterloo, which collaborated with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, to assess the accessibility features of the Canadian Journey banknotes. The results led to the implementation of two improvements to the design—increased durability of the raised dots used for identification and placing identification patterns for electronic banknote scanners at both ends of the banknotes.
The Bank of Canada tested the prototype banknotes by exposing them to temperatures in the range. The durability test involved boiling, freezing, and running the banknotes in a washing machine.
By the end of the development cycle, nearly 15 million test banknotes of various designs, implementing different security features, and using various substrates and techniques, had been printed. Research and testing for printing currency on the polymer substrate cost about, and overall development of the polymer banknotes cost about $300million.
Design
In 2008, the Bank of Canada hired the Strategic Counsel, a market research firm, for $476,000 to create an image catalogue from which banknote images would be drawn. The firm polled focus groups in six cities, finding that themes related to diversity and multiculturalism had strong support. This resulted in 41 images reflecting eight themes being presented to the Bank of Canada.The designs for the banknotes were created by the Canadian Bank Note Company. The Bank of Canada consulted various organizations for the design and depiction of elements appearing on the banknotes, including: the Canadian Space Agency for the $5 banknote; Via Rail and the Railway Association of Canada for the $10 banknote; Veterans Affairs Canada and the Vimy Foundation for the $20 banknote; ArcticNet, the Canadian Coast Guard, and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami for the $50 banknote; and the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Sanofi Pasteur Canada, University of Ottawa, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, University of Toronto, and University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine for the $100 banknote.
From late 2009 to early 2012, the prototype designs were shown to 30 focus groups in Calgary, Fredericton, Montreal, and Toronto on a $53,000 contract by the Strategic Counsel to discover "potential controversies". Feedback from the focus groups led to some changes to the design, and results of the study were released to the public in 2012. The report stated that themes of diversity, inclusiveness, acceptance of others, and multiculturalism had strong support in the focus groups. The highest-rated images included two of children of different ethnic backgrounds building a snowman and playing hockey, and of faces of individuals from different cultures celebrating Canada Day. The focus groups rejected images such as aboriginal art, ice wine, and portraits of Terry Fox, Tommy Douglas, and Lester B. Pearson. All focus groups thought the large window resembled a woman's body.
A set of 41 images in several themes was presented to the Department of Finance, which selected the final designs. Rejected images included illustrations of a gay marriage and a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer wearing a turban. The images and themes that were chosen were meant to represent Canadian accomplishments in science, technology, and exploration. The themes for the final designs were announced to the public at a media event on 20 June 2011 by Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Jim Flaherty, the Minister of Finance, and William J. S. Elliott, commissioner of the RCMP.
Accessibility
Each banknote has a raised dot identification pattern, which is not braille, on the top left corner of the obverse usable for identification by individuals with visual impairments. The raised dots were expected to have greater endurance than those of previous series because of the greater durability of the polypropylene substrate. At each end of the banknotes, a symmetrical arc contains codes that enable identification using a specialized portable electronic banknote scanner. Other accessibility features include a distinct and dominant colour scheme for each denomination and large numerals displayed against a contrasting backgroundProduction
The banknotes are manufactured by Ottawa-based company Canadian Bank Note Company and by the former BA International. They are made from a single sheet of polymer substrate branded as "Guardian" manufactured by Innovia Films, which is the only supplier of the substrate for the Frontier series, based on a polymer developed in Australia and used by Note Printing Australia to print the banknotes of the Australian dollar since 1988. The material is less likely to tear than cotton-based paper and is more crumple resistant and water resistant. The polymer notes are made of recyclable biaxially-oriented polypropylene.Each polymer banknote cost 19 cents to print, more than the paper-based banknotes of previous series, but were expected to last 2 times longer, about 7 years, reducing overall costs for banknote production. The Bank of Canada expected to save about 25% on production costs compared to printing paper money with similar counterfeiting resistance.