Currency history

Canadian dollar

Canadian dollar: a currency still in use.

Dates in use: Still in use; introduction date not established here
Currency code: CAD
Ancestry branch: See family connections

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Where this money came from

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12 ancestors · 0 descendants. Follow a name to its history. Select a dated connection for its evidence.

DocumentedQualified

This currency also received later contributions, distinguished below from its origins.

Later contribution

Nova Scotia decimal dollar

1871DocumentedLater contribution or absorption75/73 Nova Scotia decimal dollar = 1 CAD

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Later contribution

Prince Edward Island decimal dollar

1881DocumentedLater contribution or absorption1 Prince Edward Island decimal dollar = 1 CAD

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Later contribution

British Columbia decimal dollar

1881DocumentedLater contribution or absorption

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This currencyCAD

Canadian dollar

Full ancestry

No successor is established here. This does not imply extinction.

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The story

Canada required dollar accounts from 31 December 1857 and issued decimal coins in 1858. ^[1]

Turning points

1 August 1854 proclamation

Authorization

Canada’s 1853 act, proclaimed 1 August 1854, recognized both pound and dollar accounts; mandatory decimal accounts and coinage followed separately. ^[2]

1970

Canadian dollar returns to floating

Powell dates Canada’s return to a floating dollar to June 1970. ^[3]

Sources and evidence

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Cite this page

“Canadian dollar.” The Family Tree of Money. © Field Technologies, Inc. Reader edition 2026-10-13; research dataset v44. https://familytreeofmoney.org/currency/T-FTM000492.html

Editorial evidence supplement · Download dataset v44