Am I at risk of unusable half banknotes in Quebec?

Question

According to this CBC article from 2015, some people in Quebec cut bank notes in half, which are then used as two separate notes each worth half the original value. These notes are known as "demi", and are not widely accepted:

"It's money that can only be circulated among these local users," said Patrick DuBois, a demi user from Carleton-sur-Mer, Que.

"No one else will accept it anywhere right now."

However, another person is quoted mentioning tourists:

Martin Zibeau, a demi user from Saint-Siméon, said it's impossible to know how many people are using the quirky local currency, but he personally knows of more than a dozen.

"It's something that's still developing. It's funny --- there are a lot of tourists who have seen it and spread the word across Quebec."

My question is: Is there any risk that I, as a tourist, will be given a demi note in change, which I will then find myself unable to use elsewhere?

Associated side questions (which will probably help answer the main question) are:

• Does this practice still exist? Is it widespread?

• Can I refuse any demi notes I am offered and insist on unmutilated currency instead?

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As it may influence answers, please note that I am planning on visiting Saint-Siméon, so it's not like "this only applies in obscure places you'll never visit".

Answer 1

In short, no

This practice is very localized, all the places mentioned in the article are small towns out east, I've heard of it but I've never seen a half bill yet. Don't forget that Quebec is a huge place so it's definitely not a widespread, province-level practice.

You can always refuse the half-bill if someone gives you one, just say you're going to a big city (Quebec or Montreal) and you're afraid they won't accept it there (which is true, no one here will). If you find yourself with one though, you can always exchange them for (metal coin) change before leaving the area.

Answer 2

I live in Quebec. I ever heard about demis, never seen one (even in remote places) and honestly you are 100% allowed to refuse them. Actually, as per the Currency Act article 11 (Canadian law), "it is not allowed to melt, break up or use coin for any other use than as a currency". Tearing or mutilating willingly a bank note is also illegal not advised in Canada and can be punished with a fine of up to 250$ and 12 month of prison with a reimbursement of the fees involved in replacing the notes.

Most banks will accept broken notes to their fractional value (so half a 10$ note will be exchanged free of charge for a 5$ note). It happened twice to me that notes broke in half and they exchanged it even if I had one half and 50 or so small brittle parts (when they changed for the plastic-issh ones that we not heat/cold resistant => this is fixed now). Obviously the teared note will then be discarded. Damaged notes are also replaced and removed from circulation. This replacement rule is applied to the discretion of the bank: some will give you 50%, other will expect both parts, but they must do something with it, because they must make sure that volume of money circulating remains mostly the same as per Bank Of Canada guidelines.

People damaging notes to create demis are actually perpetrating an illegal act passible of having to pay for replacement of the notes and therefore won't can't force you to accept a demi. If they are stupid enough/not knowledgeable enough and insist for you to accept it, tell them about Currency Act consequences of mutilating notes.

Answer 3

I've been to Quebec two times specifically (for a week each), and been across to Gatineau from Ottawa a couple of other times, and I've never encountered such a thing.

It may not be of great consequence, though, because in my experience, if you are given a half of a bill, you can take it to any bank in Canada and be reimbursed for half the complete bill's face value. This has been in place to give people some recourse if their currency is damaged by disaster. I confess, though, that I'm unable to find written verification that this is the case.

My strong suspicion is that half-bills would only be given to locals, so unless you specifically request it in a region that does it, I doubt you'll encounter it.

What you can do: simply refuse them if offered. Mutilated currency is not legal tender for debts in Canada, and in fact most purchases are not legally considered to be debts, so you can refuse it if offered.