Bank of Canada issues upgraded five dollar note to battle counterfeiters

OTTAWA (Canadian Press) -- The Bank of Canada has issued a new five dollar bill with upgraded security features to help battle counterfeiters. The bill’s improved security features include a metallic holographic stripe, a watermark portrait, a windowed colour-shifting thread woven into the paper and a see-through number. The design, colour, and illustrations of the new bills remain the same as those of the previously-issued five-dollar bills from the “Canadian Journey” series, but they are printed on a slightly heavier paper and is coated with a protective varnish. “The high level of security now found on the five dollar bank note will make it harder than ever to counterfeit,” RCMP Inspector Barry Baxter said in a release Wednesday. “Nonetheless, it is important that Canadians check their bank notes. Not only to protect themselves, but to make it harder for criminals to pass counterfeit money.”