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Those Small Canadian Bills: Use 'em or Lose 'em

Canadians still holding on to their old paper money have until midnight tonight to spend it, as stores will stop accepting certain denominations after the new year.

Some bank notes made between 1935 and 1986 will lose the government's legal tender status at midnight.

The Bank of Canada's website says the affected notes can still be redeemed or deposited for their face value at a bank or by the central bank, but may not be spent at stores.

The legal tender policy change only covers bank notes that are no longer being produced, including $1, $2, $25, $500 and $1,000 notes.

The Bank of Canada says the affected notes are so rare that they are hardly seen or recognized by store clerks anyway -- and some are worth more to collectors than in circulation.

The central bank says the long-awaited policy change puts Canada in line with other central banks, like the Bank of England, since newer notes have better security features and are harder to counterfeit.