The circulation of the penny in Canada is almost at an end.
On February 4, 2013, the Royal Canadian Mint will stop distributing pennies to financial institutions.
The elimination of the penny was part of the federal government’s 2012 budget, and although it was delayed for a few months, it’s still going ahead. The government expects to be able to save $11 million. It costs 1.6 cents to produce every penny.
When the government made the announcement last winter, a few enterprising community groups — like the Centre 64 Expansion Committee — asked people to give them their extra pennies.
Carol Fergus from Centre 64 says the pennies have added up to $300 so far, and they are still accepting more.
Each $50 weighs in at 34 pounds or 15.4 kg, so that’s about 204 pounds, 92.5 kg of pennies so far for renovations to the arts centre/theatre.
“All the proceeds go to any renovations at the Centre,” Fergus said. “We are updating the theatre at the present time. Knowing the future expansion is years away, it is imperative that upgrades occur to accommodate the users and the patrons of the Centre. The residents of Garden view Village started the process by collecting and rolling the first $150 worth.”
You can drop your pennies off at Centre 64 from Tuesday to Saturday 1-5 p.m.