notes. In 1935, the banks were given ten years to reduce their notes in circulation to twenty-five per cent of their paid-up capital.Bank Act, Statutes of Canada 1934, c. 24, s. 61. A revision to the Bank Act in 1944 provided that the banks could not issue or reissue notes after the end of 1944, except outside Canada.Bank Act, Statutes of Canada 1944, c. 30, s. 61 The last note issued by a chartered bank for use in Canada was a five-dollar note issued by the Royal Bank of Canada in 1943. The old banknotes were gradually withdrawn from circulation. In 1953, the last remaining power to issue banknotes, for use outside Canada, was abolished and the Bank of Canada became the sole issuer of Canadian notes. Fixed and floating exchange rates Since Canada has gone off the gold standard, it has fluctuated between fixed and floating exchange rates. The Canadian dollar currently has a floating exchange rate, since 1970. Great Depression As part of the reforms associated with the creation of the Bank of Canada and the economic difficulties of the Great Depression, Parliament also passed the Exchange Fund Act in 1935. The purpose of this Act was to create a fund, derived from the profits of the Bank of Canada, which would enable the government and the Bank to "aid in the control and protection of the external value of the Canadian monetary unit", i.e. to maintain the Canadian dollar at a certain rate against other currencies, if needed. However, the government did not use this power initially, allowing the dollar to float against other currencies. World War II and aftermath The situation changed in the immediate run-up to World War II. Both the pound sterling and the Canadian dollar began to slip against the United States dollar in August 1939, as war began to seem inevitable. Britain imposed exchange controls in early September. Canada followed in mid-September, imposing exchange controls under the War Measures Act, which gave extensive powers to the federal Cabinet. The government fixed the value of the Canadian dollar against the pound sterling ($4.43 buying and $4.47 selling) and also against the US dollar ($1.10 () buying and $1.11 () selling). The government also imposed strict currency controls on exchanges with foreign currencies, particularly the United States dollar. Those measures lasted throughout the war, with some changes to the fixed exchange rates. After the