<P> In addition to issuing bank notes, some banks as well as merchants began to issue trade tokens . Although they had no legal status, they were accepted as currency on a local basis . The tokens were mainly imported from England . The banks in Lower Canada cooperated in issuing tokens to improve their reliability . One of the tokens they produced had the arms of Montreal on one side, and an image of a habitant on the other . These tokens were nicknamed "Papineaus". </P> <P> The two major fur - trading companies, the Hudson Bay Company and the North West Company also issued trade tokens, which were used in their extensive trading networks . The Hudson Bay Company tokens were based on the "Made beaver" pelts which had been used as a medium of exchange . </P> <P> During the mid-19th century, there was a policy disagreement between the British and the colonial governments . The British wanted all the colonies to continue to use sterling, to facilitate trade within the Empire . The Canadian colonies, both in the east and British Columbia, increasingly favoured linking their currencies to the US dollar, given the strong local trade links . Eventually, the local trade won out and the Canadian colonies migrated to currencies linked to the US dollar . </P> <P> One feature of the regulation of coinage at this time was fixed exchange rates . The colonial and imperial legislation set fixed exchange rates for coins, often based on their weight as bullion . </P>

When did canada change from pounds to dollars