(May 8 – 10:30 ET) – The Bank of Canada is going to stop issuing $1000 bank notes and will soon begin to withdraw them from circulation.
The elimination of the $1000 note is part of Ottawa’s fight against money laundering and organized crime. The move was recommended by the Department of Finance in consultation with the Bank of Canada, the federal Solicitor General, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and other Canadian law enforcement agencies.
The notes already in circulation will remain legal tender and will retain their full face value. Individuals will be free to hold and use the notes for as long as they want. The $1000 notes will be withdrawn over time with the help of financial institutions, which have been asked to return the notes to the Bank of Canada as they are deposited or exchanged by the public. All $1000 notes returned to the Bank of Canada will be destroyed.
The $1000 note is rarely used for cash transactions. In 1999, for example, there were about 3.8 million $1000 notes in circulation, representing less than 0.3% of all notes in circulation.
-IE Staff