ILLUSTRATION: THE GLOBE AND MAIL. SOURCES: GETTY IMAGES

Peter Shawn Taylor is senior features editor at C2C Journal. He lives in Waterloo, Ont.

In a world gone digital, Canadians aren’t quite ready to give up on cash. Let’s keep it that way.

According to a recent Bank of Canada survey, paper money accounted for just 20 per cent of all transactions last year, down from 54 per cent in 2009. One-fifth of Canadians say they no longer carry any cash on a daily basis.

Yet the nominal value of money in the average Canadian’s wallet or purse has more than doubled since 2009. And the typical emergency stash at home sits at $472. All told, there’s a record $121-billion of Canadian bills in circulation.

So why does Ottawa want to put its own banknotes out of commission?

Among many other consequential measures, Bill C-2 – introduced by the Carney government in June – proposes to toughen federal anti-money laundering laws by making it illegal for any person, business, bank or charity to accept “a cash payment, donation or deposit of $10,000 or more.” It would also forbid “night drops,” whereby businesses deposit their daily earnings in a secure mail slot after banking hours.

Two typhoons just exposed how brittle our cashless future really is

In a cashless world, many older Canadians get left behind

Both proposals threaten the existence of Canada’s cash economy by making it riskier and more complicated to deal in paper money. Some cash-heavy businesses may........

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