The quarter, short for quarter dollar, is a Canadian coin worth 25 cents or one-fourth of a Canadian dollar. In addition to being used as circulating currency, this denomination has also been used to make commemorative coins struck by the Royal Canadian Mint. Ordinarily featuring a caribou, the quarter has the most commonly altered reverse in Canada and is the usual venue for commemorative issues. Two main types of commemorative coins have been issued; those for circulation and those for collectors. This article does not cover NFL related commemoratives or Olympic coins as those quarters can be found in their respective pages.
In 1992, to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Confederation, the RCM released twelve commemorative coins, one for each Canadian province and territory at the time. These were the inspiration for the US 50 State quarters program of 1999 to 2008. Nunavut, which separated from the Northwest Territories seven years later in 1999, was honoured with a special $2 coin.
In April 1998, the Mint announced the "Millennium Coin Design Contest", a contest open to all Canadians to submit designs for twenty-four millennium quarters, one for each month of 1999 and 2000. The 1999 designs were meant to look back on Canada's past, while the 2000 designs looked to the future. While the 1999 coins were labelled with their month of issue, the 2000 coins were labeled with the relevant theme. All of these quarters were also issued in proof as individuals, and in sets for collectors.
In 2005, to celebrate the centennials of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, two commemorative quarters were issued. The public was given the opportunity to vote on the coin design through two toll-free phone numbers.
There were four candidate designs for the Alberta quarter: Big Sky Country, Alberta's Natural Beauty, A Dynamic Century, and Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. The winning design was Big Sky Country, by Michelle Grant, and depicted an oil derrick with cattle grazing at its base. The coin had a mintage of 20,640,000.
There were three candidate designs for the Saskatchewan quarter: The Western Meadowlark, Canada Geese over Wascana Lake, and The Round Dance Celebration. The winning design was Western Meadowlark, designed by Paulette Sapergia. The coin's mintage was 19,290,000.
From 2000 to 2009, the RCM issued colourized quarters on Canada Day with designs aimed to attract young collectors. As with other collector coins issued by the RCM, the Canada Day series coins are non-circulating legal tender. These quarters were struck in both nickel plated steel and sterling silver. A variant of the 2002 Canada Day coin was issued in circulation without any colour. It was presented to new Canadians at their citizenship ceremony during "Celebrate Canada Day" week. These coins were distributed between July and September 2002 with a final mintage of 30,627,000.
From 2004 to 2013, the Royal Canadian Mint released commemorative holiday coins, these were all struck in nickel plated steel.
In 2004, a quarter was issued in honour of Remembrance Day, featuring a corn poppy on the reverse, a traditional symbol in Canada of that day. This resulted in an international incident in which American military contractors unfamiliar with the coin's design believed these coins were outfitted with nanotechnology designed for espionage.