The Royal Canadian Mint stops distributing the penny today.
Businesses in Nelson and across the country are now being asked to round-up or round-down purchases to the nearest five cents.
The change in how we consume will only impact purchases made with cash, the rounding will not happen with debit or credit card purchases. It is still up to the discretion of individual businesses whether to take pennies.
There are currently 35 billion pennies in circulation and as they are gathered by the Mint they will be melted down and turned into recycled metal. Pennies will remain legal tender indefinitely.
The Conservative government announced the phasing out of the penny in its budget last March. It is estimated that the move will save Canadian taxpayers $11 million a year.