The great Canadian penny roundup — er, round off
We won’t be penny pinching anymore — we’ll be nickel and diming it.
The Canadian penny’s days are numbered. On Feb. 4, consumers, businesses, charities and financial institutions are encouraged to start rounding off cash transactions.
That’s the date the Canadian government has set to phase out our penny and the date when the Canadian Mint will no longer be distributing the much loved one-cent piece. The final penny was actually minted last spring.
The sense behind phasing out the cent was rising production costs (it cost 1.6 cents for every penny minted); the excessive hoarding of pennies in our homes (if I had a dollar for every penny I’d be rich!); environmental considerations; and the handling costs it imposes on retailers, financial institutions and the economy.
The move will save Canadian taxpayers an estimated $11 million a year.
Just remember: Only cash transactions will be affected. Any transactions made by cheque or electronically by debit or credit card will remain the same.
So as part of the great Canadian penny round up, the change from your cash transaction will be rounded off either up or down depending on your purchase. For example, when you walk into a coffee shop or other business and your cash transaction totals $1.01 or $1.02, you may be asked for $1 (yay!) If it is $1.06 or $1.07, it works out to $1.05 (yay again!). As you can see, we’re doing OK here. But if your cash transaction comes to $1.03 or $1.04, you will be asked for $1.05 and if it is $1.08 or $1.09, you will be asked for $1.10.
Interestingly, the Ministry of Finance website states that even though everyone is encouraged to phase out the penny and start rounding off cash transactions, pennies can still be used in cash transactions “indefinitely with businesses that choose to accept them.”
Pennies aren’t even going the way of ounces, miles, yards, the one-dollar bill and the two-dollar bill. Those all morphed into kilometres, metres, millilitres, the loonie and the toonie.
When the penny eventually becomes obsolete we will have to change some of our favourite idioms like “a penny saved is a penny earned,” “a penny for your thoughts,” and “I’ll put in my two cents.” Could penny loafers evolve into loonie loafers? What will future generations of our children know about the penny? Will it be something they will read about in school books just like the dinosaur?
Well that’s my two cents worth! A penny for your thoughts?
-- Donna Donaldson, MSN Money
Posted by: William | Feb 1, 2022 11:41:41 AM
I will be happen to see the penny go. I hate coins to begin with. I pay with a credit or debit card wherever possible, but when I have no choice but to use cash, I pay in bills and always leave the coins on the counter. Oh, I am sure someone will mention how much this loss will accumulate to, but honestly, I couldn't care less. Anyone in a position to fret over every penny, nickel, or dime is in serious financial hardship. So that is my 2 toonies worth.
Posted by: murray | Feb 1, 2022 4:23:11 PM
Well I am glad that you are in that financial position but there are a lot of people who are not and need every penny, nickle and dime to servive so next time please pick up your change and donate it to a poor family or charity who could use it for food or heat, then everybody would be a little bit better off financially.Thats my two cents worth.
Posted by: Heather | Feb 1, 2022 5:00:33 PM
No more Magic Penny!! We are doomed without that song.
Posted by: Chris | Feb 1, 2022 5:41:24 PM
@William
You talk about financial hardship like everyone in that position put themselves there, and its their own fault. Shameful.
Posted by: Leon | Feb 1, 2022 5:52:09 PM
Dear Donna Donaldson.
On the subject of: “a penny saved is a penny earned,” “a penny for your thoughts,” “I’ll put in my two cents.” etc.
1. We in Quebec are still using an expression "un sous" (one penny) even though the French "sous" (I am not even sure of the spelling) has not been used in "Nouvelle France" for centuries.
In my native Poland expressions using long forgotten names of small denomination coins are in current use in proverbs and sayings.
So, I think that our great grandchildren will still offer "a penny for their thoughts", and will be offering their opinnions worth often more than the proverbial "two cents".
I saw in a natural museum in Australia exhibition comparing a colibri egg to their, long withdrawn from current use, pennies. You are right then about the dinosaurus I admit.
Good article!
Posted by: Jim | Feb 1, 2022 5:58:57 PM
William, your comment makes you appear as an arrogant a$$, a stereotype that rich people get because they seem to think they are better than anyone else. I am not poor, but, I can't stand the attitude of people like yourself that appear to have no regard for others who are less well off. Just sayin'.
Posted by: Brian | Feb 1, 2022 6:35:18 PM
Another RIPOFF of the consume,rto suit retailers (who will mark up more than mark down) Mandated by a Government who wastes Billions and tries to sell this to you as saving $11 million?
What a sick joke! Next will be the Nickel which the Chamber Of Commerce is already lobbying for as they know how APATHETIC Canadians are to being Ripped off by Banks and the Telecom Industry etc,Etc.
Posted by: A Rock | Feb 1, 2022 6:50:07 PM
why not go one step further like the UK and have prices include taxes? Then it really wouldnt matter because prices would all be rounded by the retailers.
THAT would get rid of a lot more change in the end. Sure some retailers would round up but some would round down but thats what they have to do with this penny thing anyways
Posted by: Dry | Feb 1, 2022 6:53:29 PM
I think your right, donating every penny would be a great idea to charity. Just think of the good it would do...and I know it sounds like a joke but there is 6 billion pennies out there, thats 60,000,000 dollars. So instead of givng that money to the government you shoudl send them to the boys and girls club. Helping the kids is always rewarding.
Posted by: Brandon | Feb 1, 2022 7:27:32 PM
I'm one of those people who save pennies and they've put bread on my family's table. Since when do businesses take a loss? When they stand to lose a penny or two for every time a product is sold every thousand products sold equals $10-$20 and by the end of a year, even small businesses could lose several thousand dollars. How does that make business sense? Stores like Walmart who sell in higher volumes to the very section of the populace hardest hit by this change, will be even more likely to round up because they would incur greater financial losses. I'm not struggling financially because of laziness or "poor" investing, I've been struck by illness. The low-income families, disabled, and retired communities will suffer the most. We are the penny pinchers. The government claims Canadians save $11million? That money will not be saved, because those are tax dollars they are talking about, they will simply be re-allocated to something else and it doesn't stop government over-expenditures. Why is the government so concerned about $11million if they hand out $35million to foreign country relief efforts as if the money were burning a hole in their pockets. The more intelligent move would have been converting the value of pennies to two cents, since it costs 1.6 cents to make them. Then no one suffers. Business and the public benefit. This is just another example of government caring more about big business than the people who elect them.
Posted by: bilbo bagless | Feb 1, 2022 7:39:17 PM
thats are government doucebags phase out pennies introduce wooden pickles
Posted by: Werner | Feb 1, 2022 7:39:28 PM
Yes, phase the penny out there is nothing realy wrong with that. BUT, ... intoduce a new law, that all the advertised prices in all of Canada inklude all taxes, environment fees, recyling fee, paperwork fees and so on. It works in Europe, so it can work here too. Then the retailers can round their prices to the nearest 5 cent, and every body will be happy. If I go to the store now, the water is advertised $2.50 a flat. I don't now what I'm ending up paying. There is, GST, PST, HST, bottling fee, environment fee, packiging fee, bottle cap fee, employe sickday fee, fuel surcharge, and whatever fee. I'm shure you get my drift.
I want to go in any store in Canada and see how much things are, and know thats what I have to pay when I walk up to the cashier ! Thanks for reading!
Posted by: Bill | Feb 1, 2022 8:19:18 PM
Well I guess I better cash in all my bottles of pennys before the banks won't take them anymore huh
Posted by: herbharker | Feb 1, 2022 9:30:57 PM
ok...so what is too stop retailers from just changing from 1.03...to 1.04 etc etc etc...then they will get an increase in profit...canadians are so silly
Posted by: Rob Snowie | Feb 1, 2022 10:51:05 PM
The Royal Bank of Canada has an interesting fund raising initiative.
Donate you pennies,
and help provide clean drinking water to a third world family.
Posted by: John | Feb 4, 2022 11:36:06 PM
I'm sad to see the penny go. The cost savings is so minimal in the grand scheme of things. Why not just produce less of them and urge people to break open their penny stashes and spend some?
Posted by: harry william upson | Feb 5, 2022 8:11:30 AM
I have read to whom give pennies too, my suggestion is to give them to your local Royal Canadian Legion as they intern donate most all monies they raise to help veterans and local charities.