CALGARY – The penny is one step closer to oblivion – the Royal Canadian Mint has officially stopped distributing one cent coins to Canada’s financial institutions.
It is now up to businesses to decide whether to continue accepting pennies, as part of a phasing out of the coin.
Businesses can accept pennies for as long as they choose, according to Shelly Glover, the parliamentary secretary to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
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London Drugs is still taking pennies and giving back exact change until customers get used to the penny phase out.
“It’s still considered legal tender by the Bank of Canada,” says Lou Dugal of London Drugs. “There are still lots of pennies out there, so we’re still accepting pennies from customers.”
The chain plans to donate the pennies it receives to charity.
Retailers who decide to no longer accept pennies as part of cash payments will have to round up or down consumer purchases to the nearest five cents.
Electronic purchases will still be billed to the nearest cent.
Some retailers are using the penny phase out as a marketing gimmick. Home Depot is rounding down all cash sales to the nearest five cents and rounding up the price on products that are returned.
The federal government announced the demise of the penny nearly a year ago as a cost-saving measure as it costs more to make pennies than they are worth.
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