Legal Research

?Tis the season?

By Mark Lewis

for Counter-feiting, fa la la la la, la la la la. Interestingly enough there are not many catchy carols about the counterfeiting season. But as I was about the other day, I saw a sign at a particular business to mark the season, the sign was to the effect that the business would no longer be accepting 100 dollar bills. Which got me to thinking, can they do that? So I headed straight for the Currency Act, R.S.C. 1985, c.C-52 in order to figure it out. And what to my wondering eyes did appear? …. well, not the answer to my question.
I can tell you section 8(2)(a-e), specifies how much in coins can be used at one time. So the next time you see one of those stories of someone paying their thousands of dollars worth of parking tickets in coins, you can consult the act to find out that the municipality in question could refuse them. As for my 100 dollar bill question, I do have half an answer, section 8(1)(b) specifies:

Subject to this section, a tender of payment of money is a legal tender if it is made (b) in notes issued by the Bank of Canada pursuant to the Bank of Canada Act intended for circulation in Canada.

So it seems a business cannot turn down 100 dollar bills, but I have the sneaking suspicion that there is more to this question. So does someone have the answer to this?

And if you are wondering how to detect counterfeit fills, the Bank of Canada has some advice: Debunking the myths about counterfeit money.

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on December 12, 2008 (boomark / email).