About the note
The portrait featured on the face of this note is of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. It is the first computer‑assisted portrait engraving to appear on a Canadian bank note. The engraving was still done by hand, but instead of engraving directly into metal, the engraver used a stylus and digital tablet. The digital file was then transferred to an engraving machine. The engraving was produced by the German security printing firm Giesecke+Devrient from a 1941 photograph by Yousuf Karsh. The illustration next to King is the clock of Parliament Hill’s Peace Tower. It is showing 11:00, the hour the First World War officially ended with the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918.
The theme of the back vignette is Nation‑building. The note carries an image of the statue of the Famous Five. These Alberta women were responsible for bringing about the Persons Case—a successful legal challenge that gave some Canadian women the right to be appointed to the Senate. This victory paved the way for many more advancements in women’s rights and political participation. The note also features the Thérèse Casgrain Volunteer Award, and a fragment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is on the left. The first draft of the Declaration was written by New Brunswick’s John Peters Humphrey.
At a glance
- Portrait: Sir William Lyon Mackenzie King
- Date of issue: November 17, 2004
- Last day of issue: March 25, 2012
- Signatures:
- Deputy Governors W. Paul Jenkins and Tiff Macklem
- Governors David A. Dodge and Mark J. Carney
- Dimensions: 15.2 cm x 7 cm
- Design: Canadian Bank Note Company Ltd. (Jorge Peral)
- Printer: BA International Inc., Canadian Bank Note Company Ltd.
- Status: legal tender
