The Bank of Canada has unveiled the country’s new $20 bank note, and for the first time in more than 70 years, a new monarch’s portrait appears on the denomination. The vertical polymer note features King Charles III on the front and the Canadian National Vimy Memorial on the back, and will begin gradually entering circulation starting in early 2027.
It’s only the second note in the Bank of Canada’s vertical-format series, following the $10 note introduced with civil rights pioneer and businesswoman Viola Desmond. The shift to a vertical layout — a break from the horizontal format Canadian currency has used for generations — is now becoming the template for the country’s newest notes rather than a one-off design choice.
Charles is centred on the front of the note, his portrait surrounded by a floral and leafy tapestry the Bank of Canada says was chosen to reflect the King’s lifetime focus on environmental and conservation causes. Provincial and territorial floral emblems, representing all 13 provinces and territories, also appear on the front. A circular window, visible from both sides of the note, features plants that hold cultural significance for Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
The Vimy Memorial remains on the back, continuing its place on the $20 note as one of the most recognizable pieces of Canadian currency design — the monument commemorates the more than 66,000 Canadians who died in the First World War, and the 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge in particular.
Beyond the imagery, the Bank of Canada says the note carries a new generation of security features not previously used in Canadian currency, designed to make it both easier for the public to verify at a glance and significantly harder to counterfeit — a standard update whenever a note is redesigned, but one the Bank is emphasizing given how quickly counterfeiting techniques have evolved since the current $20 note (still featuring Queen Elizabeth II) was introduced.
The existing Elizabeth II $20 note doesn’t disappear once the new one arrives. Bank of Canada notes remain legal tender indefinitely regardless of design changes, so both versions will circulate side by side for years, the same way older $10 and $5 notes continued to circulate alongside newer designs after past updates. Canadians won’t need to do anything to prepare — the new note will simply start showing up in bank withdrawals and change gradually as it enters circulation through the normal course of business in early 2027.
