The number of Canadian counterfeit bills is levelling off in 2005 after three years of dramatic increases, according to an analyst with the Bank of Canada visiting Whitehorse this week.

The number of counterfeit bills more than doubled between 2002 to 2004.

With approximately 208,000 false bills in circulation in 2002, totalling $4.9 million, that number climbed to 440,000 fake notes and $12.7 million in 2003.

By 2004, there were 550,000 counterfeit bills in currency that totalled $13 million.

Trevor Frers, a senior analyst with the Bank of Canada, is in Whitehorse this week to meet with groups like the local chamber of commerce and the RCMP, giving presentations on how to identify counterfeit bills.

He explained Wednesday afternoon that the Bank of Canada monitors how much false currency is in circulation. When counterfeit rates are too high, a new series of bills is released.

In 2004, when counterfeit rates soared to $13 million, they released a new series of bills called the Canadian Journey Series.

This new series replaced the Birds of Canada bills, which ran from about 1986 to 2002, featuring a different kind of bird on the flip side of each note.

In 2004, 65 per cent of counterfeited notes were the $20-bills from the Birds of Canada Series. This is the bill with two loons pictured on the back.

'It can take several years to develop a new series (of bills),' Frers said.

It takes time to engineer new security features to make counterfeiting more difficult, he explained.

The Bank of Canada also organizes focus groups with Canadians to ascertain what kinds of images they would like to see on a new series of bills.

The Canadian Journey Series, launched in 2004, has a variety of new security features which serve two purposes.

They are more difficult to copy, for a counterfeiter, and easier to verify, for anyone checking their cash.

The main goal for the new series was to make bills 'reliable, quick and easy to use,' according to Frers.

Some of the new features include a holographic stripe with shifting maple leaves that changes colours, located to the left of the portrait.

The print is raised on specific parts of the bill, such as the large number noting the value of the bill. When you hold these bills up to the light, you should see a small watermark portrait of the person on the bill. The watermark should be invisible when the bill is held normally.

One of the easiest ways of identifying counterfeit bills is by looking at the fine lines and microprinting, Frers said. Copied bills often lack the detail and clarity of real bills, appearing smudged or blurry.

'Counterfeiters put in the minimum amount of effort necessary,' Frers said.

As a result, they usually try to master one of two security features, relying on the fact that people will not check them carefully, he said.

This is why it's recommended to look for at least three features.

The process shouldn't take long either.

'In a matter of two to three seconds, you can check five to six different security features,' he said.

For the Journey series, he recommends people 'touch, tilt, look at and look through' bills.

For example, if you feel raised print in the correct areas, tilt the bill into the light and see hidden numbers and holographs, look at the microprint and fine lines and see them clearly, and look through the bill and see the watermark image, it's likely real.

Most counterfeit bills in Canada are printed in Ontario and Quebec. U.S. counterfeit dollars, however, are printed both within the country and abroad, Frers said.

While there have been instances of counterfeit in the Yukon, it is not a major issue, according to police.

Instances of do surface though, said Cpl. Brian Edmonds of the RCMP commercial crimes unit.

'We've been talking a lot about (counterfeit money) in the detachment over the past few days,' he said from the RCMP building Wednesday. 'It's very sporadic.'

Edmonds has noticed counterfeit money is a bigger issue in other parts of the country. Having recently returned from Alberta, he found retailers there would not accept certain bills.

'There were a lot of retailers who would not accept $50- and $100-bills,' he said.

Nationally, the Yukon, along with three or four other jurisdictions, makes up only three per cent of the counterfeit rate, Edmonds said this morning.

'We're pretty lucky up here.'

Sherry Boniface, administrative assistant for the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce, said she has witnessed counterfeit notes in the city.

'I've seen people trying to deposit counterfeit bills unknowingly,' she said today. 'When that happens, you're pretty much stuck.'

The last person with the counterfeit bill is the one who loses the money.

Due to the large amount of tourist traffic in Whitehorse, there is some concern amongst store and business owners about U.S. counterfeit bills as well as Canadian, she said.

Although many tourists use credit cards, there certainly are counterfeit bills given to local businesses, according to Boniface.

She said it's an issue that all local businesses should take seriously.

'It's definitely out there and we need to be aware of it. In the Yukon, we sometimes get into this mentality that we're protected. . . . That's not the case, though.'

For Yukoners interested in more information on counterfeit money, the web address for the Bank of Canada is www.bankofcanada.ca.