The Canadian chartered bank notes were paper money issued between 1817 and 1944 by private Canadian banks known as chartered banks

Early Canadian banking system

The early Canadian banking system was regulated entirely by the colonial government. Primitive forms of banking emerged early in the colonial period to solve the drain of wealth caused by the application of mercantilist theory...

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Notes were issued in a variety of different denominations, including 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 20, 25, 40, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 dollars. After 1871, the smallest denomination allowed was 4 dollars, raised to 5 dollars in 1880. Until 1935, the chartered banks were the only source of larger denominated notes for circulation in Canada.