In January 2020, the Bank of Canada confirmed it would begin soliciting suggestions for the historic Canadian who would replace Wilfrid Laurier on the $5 note.[3] The Bank of Canada released a shortlist of candidates under consideration for the bill in November 2020 which included figures such as Pitseolak Ashoona, Won Alexander Cumyow, Terry Fox, and others.[4] In accordance with the Bank of Canada Act, the Minister of Finance will make the final decision and the name of the individual selected will be announced thereforth. Once the new portrait subject has been selected, the banknote design process would be initiated and the polymer note will possess a vertical design. Within a few years, the new $5 note will be in circulation.[2] As of late 2023, no decision had been made.[5]
The obverse and reverse of the $10 banknote
The $10 note is purple, and the obverse features a portrait of Viola Desmond, a Black Nova Scotian businesswoman who challenged racial segregation at a film theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, in 1946. The background of the portrait is a colourful rendition of the street grid of Halifax, Nova Scotia, including the waterfront, Citadel, and Gottingen Street, where Desmond's Studio of Beauty Culture was located. Foil features on the note face include both the flag and Coat of Arms of Canada. This is the first Canadian banknote to feature neither a Canadian prime minister nor a member of the Canadian royal family in its solo portrait.[6]
The reverse features the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Part of the background pattern mirrors the museum's interior architecture and its ramps connecting multiple levels. A foil eagle feather is prominent, symbolizing ideals such as truth, power, and freedom. A quotation from section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms appears in both English and French.
The foil window at the base of the note includes an iridescent rendering of the Library of Parliament's vaulted dome ceiling, which can be seen from both sides of the note.
In 2019, the International Bank Note Society awarded the design the top prize in its annual banknote design competition. It won against new currency designs from Switzerland, Norway, Russia, and the Solomon Islands.[7]
After Charles III's ascension to the throne following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, the Government of Canada announced that a portrait of King Charles will appear on the new $20 banknote.[8] In 2024, a Bank of Canada spokesperson said the bank had begun the design process of the $20 note, and that it should be issued in a few years.[9]