F. Financial Literacy · Canadian Money

Canadian Coins and Bills

F1.1About 30 minutes

Learning goals

I can name the Canadian coins: nickel, dime, quarter, loonie, and toonie.
I can tell the value of each coin.
I can name the bills $5, $10, $20 and $50 and tell their colours.
I know that the penny is no longer made.

Words to know

money
What we use to buy things. Canadian money comes in coins and bills.

coin
A small, flat, round (or almost round) piece of metal money.

bill
Money made of a thin, smooth plastic sheet. Also called a bank note.

value
How much a coin or bill is worth.

cent (¢)
A small unit of money. The sign ¢ means cents. 5¢ means 5 cents.

dollar ($)
A bigger unit of money. The sign $ means dollars. One dollar is worth 100 cents.

denomination
The value written on a coin or bill, like 25¢ or $10.

Let's get started!

Have you ever helped pay at the grocery store, or put a coin in a piggy bank? In Canada, we use coins and bills to buy things.

Each coin and bill has a value. Value means how much it is worth. Today you will learn the name and value of every Canadian coin and bill up to $50, and how to tell them apart.

Wooden crates of apples, peaches, corn and pumpkins at an outdoor farmers' market, with a cloth shopping bag. — At a farmers' market, people pay for fruit and vegetables with coins and bills. AI-generated image

Cents and dollars

We use two signs when we talk about money:

¢ means cents. We write it after the number: 5¢, 10¢, 25¢.
$ means dollars. We write it before the number: $1, $2, $5.

A dollar is worth a lot more than a cent. One dollar is worth 100 cents!

Canadian coins, drawn at about their real sizes compared to each other: dime 10¢, nickel 5¢, quarter 25¢, loonie $1 (11 sides), toonie $2 (two colours).

The Canadian coins

Look closely at real coins if you have some. Every coin has the King or Queen on one side. The other side has a picture that helps you know which coin it is.

Coin	Value	Colour	Picture on the back	How to spot it
Nickel	5¢ (5 cents)	silver	a beaver on a dam	Bigger than a dime, smaller than a quarter. Smooth edge.
Dime	10¢ (10 cents)	silver	a sailing ship (the Bluenose)	The smallest coin, and very thin. Bumpy (ridged) edge.
Quarter	25¢ (25 cents)	silver	a caribou	Bigger than a nickel. Bumpy (ridged) edge.
Fifty-cent piece	50¢ (50 cents)	silver	the Canadian coat of arms	Large and rare. You may never see one in a store!
Loonie	$1 (1 dollar)	gold	a loon (a water bird)	Gold colour with 11 flat sides.
Toonie	$2 (2 dollars)	silver outside, gold inside	a polar bear	The only coin with two colours.

Canadian coins. The loonie is named after the loon on it, and the toonie got its name because it is worth two loonies!

Watch out!

The dime is the smallest coin, but it is worth MORE than the bigger nickel! A coin's size does not tell you its value. Always look at the picture or the number.

What happened to the penny?

The penny was a small copper-coloured coin worth 1¢ (1 cent). It had two maple leaves on it.

Canada stopped making pennies in 2012. Pennies cost more to make than they were worth! Some people still have old pennies in jars at home, but stores do not give pennies as change anymore.

When you pay with coins, the total is rounded to the nearest 5 cents, so the nickel is now our smallest coin value.

The Canadian bills

Canadian bills (also called bank notes) are made of a smooth, thin plastic called polymer. Each one has a clear window you can see through. The easiest way to tell bills apart is by their colour and the number on them.

Canadian bills up to $50. Each bill has a clear window (shown with dashes). $5 is blue, $10 is purple, $20 is green, $50 is red.

Bill	Value	Colour
Five-dollar bill	$5	blue
Ten-dollar bill	$10	purple
Twenty-dollar bill	$20	green
Fifty-dollar bill	$50	red

Bill colours. A trick: they go from blue to purple to green to red as the value goes up.

Did you know?

Canadian bills also have raised bumps in one corner so people who are blind can feel which bill it is. Canadian money is designed so everyone can use it!

Worked example

Which coin is it?

Clue 1: I am silver. Clue 2: I am bigger than a dime. Clue 3: I have a beaver on me. Which coin am I, and what is my value?

Silver coins are the nickel, dime, quarter (and fifty-cent piece). The loonie is gold, so it is out.
Bigger than a dime: that leaves the nickel, quarter, and fifty-cent piece.
Which one has a beaver? The nickel.

I am a nickel. My value is 5¢.

Worked example

Which bill is it?

Sara's aunt gave her a purple bill for her birthday. What is it worth?

Remember the colours: $5 blue, $10 purple, $20 green, $50 red.
Purple matches the $10 bill.
Check by looking for the number on the bill: it says 10.

The purple bill is worth $10 (ten dollars).

Just for fun

What has a head and a tail but no body?

A coin!

Hands-on activity

Coin detective

Ask a grown-up for a handful of coins (or a piggy bank to look through).

Sort the coins by kind. Make a pile of nickels, dimes, quarters, loonies and toonies.
Look at each one closely. Find the beaver, the ship, the caribou, the loon and the polar bear.
Coin rubbing: put a coin under a piece of paper and rub over it with the side of a crayon. Label each rubbing with its name and value.
Mystery bag: put one of each coin in a sock. Reach in without looking and feel one. Can you tell which it is by its size, edge, or shape? (Hint: the loonie has flat sides!)
If you have an old penny, find it. Remember: it is not made anymore!

Always wash your hands after handling money, and never put coins in your mouth.

Your turn

Which coin has a polar bear on it? What is it worth?

What is the value of a dime?

Which coin is gold and has 11 sides?

What colour is the $20 bill?

Which coin has a caribou on it?

Your friend says, "The penny is our smallest coin." Is that right?

Which bill is red?

What does the sign ¢ mean? What does $ mean?

Keep at it

There are lots of names and pictures to remember. It's okay if you need to look back at the table! Try learning one coin a day.

More practice: warm-up

What is the value of a nickel?

Which coin is worth $1?

True or false? The toonie has two colours.

What colour is the $10 bill?

Which coin has a sailing ship on it?

More practice: on your own

Write each value with the right money sign: five cents, ten dollars, twenty-five cents, two dollars.

Find the mistake! Jacob wrote the value of a loonie as 1¢. What is wrong?

Sort into coins and bills: $5, toonie, dime, $20, quarter, $50.

Why don't stores give pennies as change anymore?

Match each colour to its bill: blue, green, red, purple.

Challenge

Riddle: I am silver. I have a bumpy edge. I am the smallest coin. Which coin am I, and what am I worth? Which clue helped the most?

Find the mistake! Ana says, "The dime is worth less than the nickel because the dime is smaller." Explain what is wrong.

Grandma has a jar with a penny, a nickel, a dime, a quarter, a loonie and a toonie. Which coin is no longer made? Which coins have an animal on them? Name each animal.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which coin is worth 25¢?

Which coin has a loon on it?

What colour is the $5 bill?

Which coin is the smallest in size?

Is the penny still being made in Canada?

What colour is the $50 bill?

Which is the right way to write five cents?

For parents and teachers

What your child is learning: to identify Canadian coins (nickel, dime, quarter, fifty-cent piece, loonie, toonie) and bills up to $50, and to know their values (F1.1). Children are not expected to count mixed collections of money yet; the focus is on recognizing each denomination.

Common mistakes:

Thinking bigger coins are worth more. The dime (smallest) is worth more than the nickel. Point out the number or picture, not the size.
Mixing up the nickel and quarter (both silver with similar size). Look for the beaver (nickel) and caribou (quarter).
Writing money signs in the wrong place (5$ or ¢5). Dollars go before ($5), cents go after (5¢).

How to help: Real coins are the best tool. Let your child sort your loose change, hand over coins at a store, or play store at home. Talk about money when you shop. Supervise young children with small coins, which can be a choking hazard.