Canadian dollar Canadian dollar The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; ) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or sometimes Can$ or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 cents (¢). Owing to the image of a loon on the one-dollar coin, the currency is sometimes referred to as the "loonie" by foreign exchange traders and analysts, as it is by Canadians in general, or in French. Accounting for approximately 2% of all global reserves, the Canadian dollar is the fifth most held reserve currency in the world, behind
Canadian dollar after the then Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker. This peg lasted until 1970, after which the currency's value has floated. Canadian English, like American English, used the slang term "buck" for a former paper dollar. The Canadian origin of this term derives from a coin struck by the Hudson's Bay Company during the 17th century with a value equal to the pelt of a male beaver – a "buck". Because of the appearance of the common loon on the back of the $1 coin that replaced the dollar bill in 1987, the word "loonie" was adopted in Canadian parlance to distinguish