Penny's demise heralds new rounding rules
Royal Canadian Mint will no longer distribute pennies starting Feb. 4
The province of Nova Scotia says it will be adopting a rounding guideline for government fees when banks stop distributing pennies next week.
Starting Feb. 4, the Royal Canadian Mint will no longer distribute pennies. According to the mint's website, people will still be able to use pennies indefinitely for cash transactions with businesses that choose to accept them.
If pennies are not available, Access Nova Scotia centres and all other government offices will round up or down:
- Final amounts ending in .01 or .02 will be rounded down to nearest .00
- Final amounts ending in .03 or .04 will be rounded up to nearest .05
- Final amounts ending in .06 or .07 will be rounded down to nearest .05
- Final amounts ending in .08 or .09 will be rounded up to nearest .10
Only cash transactions will be affected by the change. Electronic payments will continue to use exact amounts.
"Losing the penny will be a transition for all Canadians," Maureen MacDonald, Nova Scotia's Finance Minister, said in a statement.
"We are taking the same approach as many other provinces and business by following federal guidelines for rounding cash transactions."