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"Playing cards were used as New France’s first paper money. The playing cards were specially cut and signed by the governor and issued in 1685 to supplement the chronically short supply of French and Spanish silver coins, which were used as the main medium of exchange (see Playing-Card Money)"
(https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/money#) -
The card money was almost immediately counterfeited and in 1722, copper coins were introduced. -
The British introduced the pound in 1760 -
Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the Colony of British Columbia experimented with paper money. -
Canada's fourth largest bank, Bank of Montreal, was the first bank opened on November 3, 1817 -
The Currency Act was passed in 1853. This means that pounds, shillings, and pence, as well as dollars and cents, could be used in provincial accounts and were recognized as units of Canadian currency. -
"In 1858, a law required that accounts of the government of the Province of Canada (now Ontario and Québec) be kept in dollars instead of pounds. At the same time, the government began to issue its own money to circulate alongside the bills issued by the Bank of Montreal and other banks." (“Money in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/money. )
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Canada's bills began circulating with $1 in 1858 -
The Dominion government issued coins and paper money, but private banks also issued bank notes. Not long after the Bank of Canada was founded, it became the sole issuer of bank notes. -
The $2, $50, $500 and $1,000 notes came out in 1887