Statistics on the counterfeiting of Canadian bank notes (formerly B4)

View or download the latest annual data. For metadata and background information, see the notes.

Annual series

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Annual20192020202120222023
Number of passed counterfeits detected in circulation (excluding $1, $2, and $1000 notes)33,70518,94217,22015,30017,024
Value of passed counterfeits (thousands of dollars) (excluding $1, $2, and $1000 notes)1,6009378719061,094
Total average count of genuine notes in circulation (millions) (excluding $1, $2, and $1000 notes)2,1852,3882,5382,6292,632
Counterfeits seized by police prior to circulation (excluding $1, $2, and $1000 notes) 10,1956,33329,91853,57239,232
Number of counterfeit notes detected in circulation by denomination
Total $53,3472,2442,1261,5191,136
$5 (Birds of Canada series)8943562736
$5 (Original Canadian Journey series)126891344620
$5 (Upgraded Canadian Journey series)351425412
$5 (Frontiers series)3,0972,0981,9111,4421,068
Total $101,4779731,040451351
$10 (Birds of Canada series)1471031404330
$10 (Original Canadian Journey series)336202329131155
$10 (Upgraded Canadian Journey series)10424453423
$10 (Frontiers series)75653741320484
$10 (Canada 150 commemorative)57181543
$10 (Vertical series)7789983556
Total $2012,5254,5583,9142,7252,876
$20 (Birds of Canada series)548309297210156
$20 (Canadian Journey series)1,010579595365256
$20 (Frontiers series)10,9003,5983,0032,1372,460
$20 (Frontiers series – commemorative)677219134
Total $505,8985,4334,4464,2334,663
$50 (Scenes of Canada series)4760174020
$50 (Birds of Canada series)50835815281105
$50 (Canadian Journey series)115299260106129
$50 (Frontiers series)5,2284,7164,0174,0064,409
Total $10010,1565,4775,4466,2407,928
$100 (Scenes of Canada series)95540711067124
$100 (Birds of Canada series)27013711781103
$100 (Canadian Journey series)629266357512648
$100 (Frontiers series)8,3024,6674,8625,5807,053

Note: Revised data are marked with an R.

Notes

Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Bank of Canada

Statistics on the counterfeiting of Canadian bank notes (formerly B4) contains data on the number of genuine bank notes in circulation as well as data supplied by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on counterfeit notes.

Counterfeits are categorized as:

  • passed notes: those detected in circulation by retailers, financial institutions, and the general public, as well as those discovered during note processing at the Bank of Canada, or
  • seized notes: those confiscated by law enforcement before they could pass into circulation.

Suspected counterfeits are forwarded to the RCMP National Anti-Counterfeiting Bureau for forensic evaluation.

Totals for each denomination reflect only the series displayed (which represent the majority of counterfeits detected in circulation). The total displayed in the top row of the table includes all series past and present. For this reason, there may be slight differences when these numbers are compared against each other.