Canada Is Putting A Woman On The Money, As Long As She's Not Fictional Or Alive

    "The nominee must not be a fictional character."

    Ishmael N. Daro
    by Ishmael N. Daro

    BuzzFeed Staff, Canada

    Canada is finally putting a Canadian woman on the currency.

    Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS

    With the exception of Queen Elizabeth II, who adorns the $20 bill, Canada's paper money only features dudes right now. The Bank of Canada says it will hold a "broad public consultation" to pick an iconic woman to add to the next set of bank notes to be released in 2018.

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced the change on International Women's Day.

    Morneau said women "have largely been unrepresented on our bank notes” and that featuring one on the money would recognize them as "a celebrated part of our history."

    The government is asking for people to nominate their favourite Canadian ladies.

    Bank of Canada @bankofcanada

    Which #BankNOTEable Canadian woman should be on the new bank note? Tell us: https://t.co/Z8mOqOo97G

    Reply Retweet Favorite

    But there are some rules:

    * The nominee can be any Canadian woman (by birth or naturalization) who has demonstrated outstanding leadership, achievement or distinction in any field, benefiting the people of Canada, or in the service of Canada.

    * The nominee must not be a fictional character.

    * The nominee must have been deceased for at least 25 years (before 15 April 1991).

    The suggestions will then be reviewed by a group of "eminent Canadian academic, cultural and thought leaders" who will probably suck all the fun out of the process and create a short list of candidates for further study. The final decision rests with the finance minister.

    But that wasn't the only women-on-money news! The Royal Canadian Mint, which is in charge of coinage, also unveiled a new loonie celebrating women's suffrage.

    Royal Canadian Mint / Twitter
    Royal Canadian Mint / Twitter

    The coin is already in circulation.

    Which women do you think should be on Canadian money?

    Leave your suggestions in the comments!