ARCHIVED – Eliminating the penny from Canada's coinage system

In Economic Action Plan 2012, the Government of Canada announced it will eliminate the penny from Canada's coinage system.

While the cent remains Canada's smallest unit for pricing goods and services, the Royal Canadian Mint will no longer distribute pennies as of fall 2012.

However, pennies can still be used in cash transactions after that date. When pennies are not available, cash transactions should be rounded to the nearest five-cent increment in a fair and transparent manner.

Price rounding should only be used on the final bill of sale after the calculation of goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST), where applicable.

Non-cash payments such as cheques, credit and debit cards will continue to be settled to the cent. Canadians can redeem pennies at their financial institutions. The Government encourages Canadians to consider donating them to charities. Businesses will be able to redeem pennies with their financial institutions.

For more information, visit Eliminating the Penny (Department of Finance Canada).