Counterfeit Prevention

Checking – Preventing – Reporting

The Bank of Canada takes counterfeiting very seriously and responds by:

• researching and developing new notes with innovative security features that are both easy to check and hard to counterfeit
• working with police agencies and prosecutors to monitor and respond to counterfeiting activity
• teaching Canadians—especially those who handle cash on the job—how to quickly check their bank notes
• providing Canadians with quality notes, and a secure form of payment that they can use with confidence

Expect the Check!

Checking bank notes protects everyone, so don’t be offended if a cashier carefully examines your bills. Routinely checking the security features of all notes—large and small—allows cashiers to intercept counterfeits and keep them out of the till and out of your change.

Know Your Notes

Security features are helpful only if you use them. To fight counterfeiting, the Bank offers free training materials to help the public, businesses, and police agencies use the security features in genuine bank notes. If you know your notes, you’ll be able to detect a counterfeit at a glance and protect yourself from fraud.

What to do if you suspect that a note is counterfeit after a transaction:

• Give it to the local police. If it’s real, you’ll get it back.

Either way, the police should be informed of possible counterfeiting activity in your community. Timely reporting helps police and prosecutors bring counterfeiters to justice.

Counterfeiting Statistics

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police publishes annual statistics on bank note counterfeiting in Canada.

U.S. Bank Notes

Learn how to verify them.
All suspected counterfeit U.S. bank notes must be turned over to local police. Find out about the security features in U.S. notes and access training and educational materials.