Published 21 Sept 2026
Canada's New Vertical $20 Note Arrives in 2027 — What Cash Users Should Know
A redesigned $20 with new security features enters circulation in February 2027. Here is the practical side for anyone who still handles cash.
On September 3, 2026, the Bank of Canada unveiled a new vertical $20 bank note featuring a portrait of King Charles III — the second note in the vertical series after the $10 featuring Viola Desmond. It will gradually enter circulation in late February 2027. The $20 is the denomination Canadians use most, which is the reason this particular redesign matters more than a design story usually would.
Why a new note is a fraud story
The note carries security features that have not appeared on Canadian currency before, including a purple security stripe with elements that spin, transform and pulse as the note is tilted. The point of features like these is that they are easy for an ordinary person to verify and hard for a counterfeiter to reproduce.
The risky window for households is the transition period. Whenever a new note appears, some people are unsure what the real thing looks like, and that uncertainty is what counterfeit passers rely on — particularly in private cash transactions like marketplace sales, informal rentals and secondhand purchases.
Practical steps
Learn the real note before you are handed one. The Bank of Canada publishes the design elements and security features on its website ahead of circulation.
Check more than one feature. Feel the texture, look at the raised ink and the transparent window, tilt to watch the stripe react. A single feature is easier to fake than a combination.
Be extra careful with large private cash deals. If someone insists on cash for a high-value item, count and check the notes before the goods change hands.
Remember older notes stay valid. Existing $20 notes are not being recalled, and nobody legitimate will tell you your current cash needs to be exchanged. That framing is itself a warning sign of a scam.
If you run a small business or side hustle with a note-handling machine, ask your supplier now whether it needs an update for the new note.
The budget angle
Accepting a counterfeit note is a real loss with no recovery — unlike a disputed card charge, there is no chargeback for cash. For most households the amount is small enough to absorb, but for anyone who takes cash for work — tutoring, trades, market stalls, rideshare tips — it is a genuine expense line worth thinking about alongside the more familiar business costs.
If you handle cash income, it is also worth checking that your projection reflects it accurately. Cash earnings are the easiest kind to under-record, and a projection built on income you have understated will overstate how tight your finances really are. In AffordaFlow you can enter irregular cash income as its own stream, which makes it visible in the projection rather than mentally rounded away.
Source: Bank of Canada, “Bank of Canada unveils new vertical $20 bank note” (September 3, 2026).
This article is informational and not financial advice.