The Bank of Canada said today that it plans to issue new $50 and $20 banks notes this fall. The two bills complete the Canadian Journey series of notes.

The $50 note will be put into circulation beginning on November 17. The design and security features of the new $50 note will be unveiled on October 13.

The new $20 note will be unveiled on August 25. It will go into circulation beginning September 29. Following issuance, it will take up to two weeks for the note to be distributed and become generally available across the country, it says.

Between the unveiling and issue, the Bank will be working with its partners and the Canadian public to inform them about the new anti-counterfeiting features.

The Bank also reported that it plans to issue an upgraded $10 bank note in 2005.

The new notes are distinguished by state-of-the-art security features, world-class designs, and a first-of-its-kind tactile feature to help the blind and vision-impaired identify the different denominations.

Although the current images will change, the new notes will remain the same size, and retain the existing dominant colours on each denomination.

The Queen and the prime ministers currently shown on the notes will remain on the same bills for the entire series. However, new portraits of these figures will be engraved for both security and aesthetic purposes.