| Historical Information |
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| This post is about a previous Session of Parliament. Any legislation here that did not receive Royal Assent has been terminated. |
C-400 – Framework on the Access to and Use of Cash Act – sets up a framework and some measures to protect access to cash. Ted calls out reliance on cash for charities and low-income people, as well as the privacy of using cash, as the reasons for needing this Act.
The Framework
So the first thing this Act does is give the Minister of Finance 18 months to set up a framework to make sure everyone has access to cash. The framework will need to include measures to:
- Make sure there’s enough infrastructure, within a reasonable distance, to allow people to make cash withdrawals and deposits
- Protect people’s ability to use cash despite the increase in use of digital currencies, including crypto
- Incentivize businesses to accept cash
- Remove barriers to making cash donations to charities, without risk to measures to stop fraud and money laundering
- Make sure our cash infrastructure stays up-to-date and sustainable
Within three years of the framework being created the Minister will need to do a study on its impact and effectiveness.
Other Protections
There’s two more measures this Act takes to protect the use of cash. First, it makes it so the government and the Bank of Canada will no longer be able to recall any form of currency. This means they wouldn’t be able to decide that we no longer need the nickle and remove it from use like we did with the penny. The second thing this Act does is prevent the Bank of Canada from issuing a digital version of the Canadian dollar.
Progress of C-400
C-400 is currently waiting for its Second Reading vote. Is this something you have thoughts on? Contact your MP and let them know!
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