One-cent coin in its final days

Many unprepared for penny’s phase-out

OTTAWA — The penny is about to drop — with many businesses unprepared and the federal government having only limited success informing Canadians of the looming change to, well, change.

The one-cent coin’s final days of widespread use are drawing near. The Royal Canadian Mint will stop distributing pennies to financial institutions on Feb. 4, the same day businesses are encouraged to begin rounding cash transactions to the nearest five-cent increment in a “fair and transparent manner.”

Transactions paid with cheques, credit cards and debit cards will continue to be settled to the cent. The GST and HST will be calculated on the pre-tax price, not the rounded price. Canadians will still, however, be able to use pennies indefinitely to pay for purchases.

While the transition date is days away, many small businesses are not ready for the penny’s phase-out. A number of merchants in the national capital offered blank stares when asked about it. Other shop owners simply shrugged their shoulders.

“We’re not prepared in the least,” said Judy Mance, manager of Kameleon PopShop in Ottawa, a store specializing in jewelry and women’s fashion.

Mance said she has heard bits and pieces about the penny being phased out, but was unfamiliar with the Feb. 4 transition date or the spe- cifics of when to round up or down.

She noted the family business — located a block from Parliament Hill — hasn’t received any notification from the federal government about the transition.

To help retailers, charities and consumers, the federal government has created a web portal on the Finance Canada website, including downloadable signage that can be displayed in-store.

The Mint has also launched a social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter to alert Canadians about the transition date. Approxi- mately 225,000 printed flyers were placed in Canada Post outlets across the country explaining the changes.

A series of print, radio, television and online ads have begun to appear across Canada, and will circulate until the end of March.

Canadian Federation of Independent Business president Dan Kelly said many members aren’t prepared.

“Business awareness is low,” he said, explaining many business owners likely won’t realize the change until they go to the bank and can no longer get rolls of pennies.