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Bank notes: Research and reports

Get quick access to our research papers, public consultations and surveys related to bank notes.

See also our backgrounders and explainers on bank notes.

Research papers

You can browse all our staff research on bank notes. Here's the latest:

2022 Methods-of-Payment Survey Report: Cash Use Over 13 Years

Staff Discussion Paper 2024-1 Christopher Henry, Doina Rusu, Matthew Shimoda
We present results from the 2022 Methods-of-Payment Survey, including updated payment shares based on a three-day shopping diary. We also assess various factors associated with long-term trends in cash use.

How Far Do Canadians Need to Travel to Access Cash?

Staff Discussion Paper 2023-28 Heng Chen, Daneal O’Habib, Hongyu Xiao
This paper develops a travel-based metric to measure Canadians’ access to cash from automated banking machines (ABMs) and financial institution branches. We find that, overall, access to cash remained stable between 2019 and 2022. The total number of ABMs in Canada increased by 3.7% and the total number of branches decreased by 5.2% during that period.

Redefining Financial Inclusion for a Digital Age: Implications for a Central Bank Digital Currency

We explore quantitative and qualitative information about Canadians who face barriers to making digital payments. We also consider the implications of ongoing digitalization for modern financial inclusion and a potential central bank digital currency.

Unmet Payment Needs and a Central Bank Digital Currency

We discuss the payment habits of Canadians both in the current payment environment and in a hypothetical cashless environment.

Cryptoasset Ownership and Use in Canada: An Update for 2022

Staff Discussion Paper 2023-14 Daniela Balutel, Christopher Henry, Doina Rusu
We find that Bitcoin ownership declined from 13% in 2021 to 10% in 2022. This drop occurred against a background of steep price declines and an increasingly tight regulatory atmosphere.

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Public consultations

Consulting Canadians on visual content is integral to our design process for new bank notes.

Principles for Bank Note Design Consultation

Read the highlights of this consultation, and see how the design principles have been applied to bank notes like these.

Surveys

The Bank regularly surveys Canadian businesses and citizens to better understand how and why cash is used by assessing awareness, attitudes, and behaviours with respect to bank notes.

Survey results allow the Bank to monitor its progress, to identify potential issues or opportunities, and to adapt its programs, tools, and services as needed.

Bank Note Confidence Survey

The Bank of Canada supplies Canadians with bank notes they can use with confidence—notes that are readily accepted and secure against counterfeiting. To monitor and assess public confidence in the authenticity of bank notes, we conduct a survey twice a year. This survey is based on a representative sample of 2,700 residents of Canada.

Methods-of-Payment Survey

The Bank of Canada surveys Canadian consumers to get a better understanding of how they pay for goods and services.

Merchant Acceptance Survey

The Merchant Acceptance Survey (MAS) helps the Bank of Canada understand trends when it comes to the methods of payment accepted by Canadian businesses.

Cash and COVID-19: What happened in 2021

Using data from the Bank Note Distribution System and consumer surveys, we find that bank notes in circulation remained high through 2021. Canadians continued to rely on electronic methods of payment, but a significant share also continued using cash for payments.

Frontiers Series: 2011–12 Awareness Survey

This survey measured Canadians’ awareness of the polymer bank notes. Respondents were asked if they recalled hearing of any upcoming changes to Canadian bank notes, and if so, where they first heard of the polymer bank notes.

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