Canada's new $2 coin is an actual piece of art featuring blue, yellow and orange hues

This colourful circulation coin is historic!

pile of canadian coins

Canadian coins.

Labrynthe | Dreamstime
Senior Writer

Canada is getting a colourful new coin that features blue, yellow and orange hues.

This toonie is also unique because it's actually a work of art!

It was just announced by the Royal Canadian Mint that a new $2 coin honouring Daphne Odjig, one of the most influential artists in Canada, is going into circulation.

She was born in Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory (Manitoulin Island, Ontario) in 1919 and grew up with First Nations art and culture, even though cultural practices were illegal during her youth.

As an artist, minimalist fine-line sketches and richly coloured paintings are what Odjig was known for.

Odjig also founded the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. with fellow Indigenous artists. They lobbied for inclusion, recognition, and equal access to art funding.

This new Canadian coin is unique not just because it features an actual artwork.

It's also the first Canadian circulation coin to honour a woman visual artist.

Odjig's 1977 piece titled "The Folk Singer" is on the inner core of the toonie with blue, yellow and orange colour enhancements.

The outer ring has an engraved reproduction of her drawing of a fisher (the anglicized version of Odjig is Fisher), which appears above her signature on her 1978 work "The Indian in Transition."

reverse side of the daphne odjig $2 commemorative circulation coin Daphne Odjig $2 commemorative circulation coin.Royal Canadian Mint

There is a limited mintage of just three million coins.

Two million coins feature the blue, yellow and orange hues of Odjig's artwork and one million feature the classic colouring of Canada's $2 coins.

Circulation of these Odjig toonies starts on September 4, 2025.

You can find it in your change soon as bank branches and businesses across Canada restock their inventories of $2 coins.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.

  • Senior Writer

    Lisa Belmonte (she/her) is a Senior Writer with Narcity Media. After graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), she joined the Narcity team. Lisa covers news and notices from across the country from a Canada-wide perspective. Her early coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic earned Narcity its first-ever national journalism award nomination.

This new $2 Canadian coin has a pop of red and here's when you can find it in your change

The toonie honours Canada's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 🇨🇦

This new Canadian coin looks like a loonie but it has a different animal and costs more than $1

The Royal Canadian Mint is the only mint in the world to offer a coin like this. 👀

This weather system will bring up to 25 cm of snow to southern Ontario in the next few days

Lake-effect snow, freezing temperatures, and strong winds are forecast.

Costco's flyer for March and April has these deals on groceries that can save you money

Coffee, tea, cereal, crackers, protein bars and more products are on sale. 🛒

Canada is spending $200M on a launch pad in Nova Scotia to send our own satellites into space

Canada currently relies on the U.S. to launch satellites into orbit.

'One elbow up, one down': A look back at Mark Carney's first year in office

Experts weigh in on the Carney government's first full year.