User:Alaney2k/Currency Act (Canada)

The Currency Act (long title: An Act respecting currency and the Exchange Fund Account is an Act of the Parliament of Canada, first passed in 1868 and amended numerous times. It governs the circulation and use of Canadian coins and tender, and the Exchange Fund Account held by the Government of Canada.

PART I - Currency and Coinage
The monetary unit of Canada is the Canadian dollar. The denominations of money in the currency of Canada are dollars and cents, cents being one-hundredth the value of the dollar.

History
The Province of Canada first introduced the Canadian Dollar in 1867, just before Confederation. Under the Constitution of the new country of Canada, the federal Parliament was assigned exclusive jurisdiction over "Coins and Currency", as well as "Banking, Incorporation of Banks, and the Issue of Paper Money". This resulted in major changes to the monetary system in the new country, with control over coinage and bank notes centralised in Ottawa.

In 1868, the federal Parliament enacted the first Currency Act. It provided for the possibility that Canada might give its dollar exactly the same value as the United States dollar, but in the meantime, the pre-Confederation values for currency were maintained. The dollars circulating in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick continued to circulate at the same value, while the Nova Scotia dollars continued to circulate in Nova Scotia at their higher, pre-Confederation value.