You can pick up Canada’s new $10 bill today

Canada has got a brand new $10 bill for its 150th birthday and you can get your hands on it today!

The Bank of Canada announced on Thursday that the new $10 commemorative bill celebrating 150th anniversary of Confederation is now officially in circulation across Canada and available over the counter at financial institutions across the country.

The Canada 150 banknote is intended to celebrate Canada’s history, land and culture.

Featured on the front side of the bill are four prominent Canadians who played major roles in the country’s parliamentary history. These individuals include Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister; Sir George-Étienne Cartier, an architect of Canadian federalism; Agnes Macphail, the first woman elected to the Canadian House of Commons; and James Gladstone, or Akay-na-muka (his Blackfoot name), Canada’s first senator of First Nations origin.

The design also features other cultural elements: a reproduction of the artwork Owl’s Bouquet by world-renowned Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak and the distinctive arrow sash pattern, an important symbol of the Métis nation that also pays homage to the French-Canadian voyageurs of the 18th century.

The reverse side of the note features the rugged splendor of Canada’s lands and landscapes: the Lions/Twin Sisters (Western Canada), a wheat field (Prairie provinces), the Canadian Shield (Central Canada), Cape Bonavista (Eastern Canada) and the northern lights (Northern Canada).

Here are some other key aspects to note about the new bill:

• It does not replace the current Polymer series $10 note, which continues to circulate, it is of equal value and can be used in transactions.
• It comes equipped with new security features, including a colour-shifting image of an arch found in the Memorial Chamber on Parliament Hill, as well as three-dimensional maple leaves. Similar to the security features of all polymer bills, they are easy to verify and difficult to counterfeit.
• Only 40 million bills are being issued - roughly one for every Canadian.

People across Canada have since taken to social media to share their thoughts on the 150 bill.

Hey @bankofcanada, the commemorative $10 bill for Canada's 150th birthday is nice, but a run of $150 bills would've been cool.

— Reay Jespersen (@reayjespersen) June 1, 2017

By the way, SIRJAM = Sir John A MacDonald, first prime minister of Canada, featured on our $10 bill, anti-native, famed drunk.

— Jamie Morin (@jme_morin) May 26, 2017

To find out more about more information about the bill, including where to get your hands on it and the thought process that went into its design, click here.