Canadian Journey (French: L'épopée canadienne) is the sixth series of banknotes of the Canadian dollar designed and circulated by the Bank of Canada. It succeeded the 1986 Birds of Canada banknote series. The first banknote of the Canadian Journey series issued into circulation was the $10 bill on 17 January 2001, and the last to be issued was the $50 bill on 17 November 2004. The series was succeeded by the 2011 Frontier series, the banknotes of which were first issued into circulation from 2011 to 2013.

This series introduced new security features and discontinued the use of planchettes, a security feature common since the earliest Canadian banknote series. All banknotes have tactile features to assist people who have visual impairments to identify the notes.

Designs on the reverse of each banknote in the series were based on themes of fundamental Canadian values and achievements. The $20 banknote was awarded 2004 Banknote of the Year by the International Bank Note Society.

The Bank of Canada began the process for a banknote series to replace Birds of Canada in 1997 by establishing a currency development team. It faced several constraints, including the use of a more secure substrate, addressing increased counterfeiting, improving accessibility for those with visual impairments, and ensuring a financially feasible production because of budgetary constraints. The Ministry of Finance was involved in the design process, providing ideas for banknote themes for the series.

The formal design of the banknotes began in 1998 and was performed by a team led by art director Jorge Peral at the Canadian Bank Note Company, which also had members from the British American Bank Note Company. The team created model designs that were reviewed by focus groups. The Bank of Canada had considered using portraits of famous Canadian artists and inventors, instead of those of the Queen of Canada and former prime ministers, but ultimately rejected the idea at the request of Jean Chrétien, who preferred the familiar portraits.

Early prototype designs included prominent portraits and vignettes of parliamentary buildings similar to those of the final design. The reverse of each denomination featured an animal indigenous to Canada in vertical portrait orientation. The set of themes that would ultimately be chosen had to adhere to modern banknote security design principles and "reflect fundamental values recognized and cherished across the country". These values included Canadian culture, diversity (for example multiculturalism), achievements, and that the concepts could be rendered artistically. Two elements of the design would not be changed: the portraits featured on each denomination and the dominant colour for each denomination, both of which were to be the same as those for the respective denomination in the Birds of Canada series.

It was the first time the Bank of Canada involved the public in the design process for a banknote series, conducting telephone surveys in 1997 to obtain public opinion about design themes and selecting individuals to participate in focus groups to review design selections. Children throughout Canada submitted designs to the Bank of Canada via their elementary schools, and over 4,000 Canadians participated in the design process.

All banknotes in the series feature a stylised Flag of Canada in the upper right-hand corner of the obverse, and measured 152.4 by 69.85 millimetres (6.000 by 2.750 in). Each banknote also included an excerpt from literary works reflecting the denomination's theme.