The new loonies and toonies are creating problems for some motorists in Saskatoon after the city discovered that the leaner coins are being rejected from parking meters.

“We are starting to see a few of the new loonies and toonies on the streets and we’re in the process of updating the existing meters to fit the new coin profile,” said Angela Gardiner, transportation manager.

Gardiner said the $25,000 upgrades to the city’s 2,800 parking meters should be complete within the next two weeks.

Saskatoon isn’t the only city to experience problems with the Royal Canadian Mint’s new generation of high-tech loonies and toonies.

The coins, issued last month, are also causing problems in Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto where parking officials have been forced to dole out extra funds to upgrade their parking meter machines. In Calgary, the city’s parking authority is spending $30,000 to recalibrate its machines and in Toronto, officials estimate that each parking machine will cost tax payers $345 per meter.

The new multi-ply steel technology coin which uses an electromagnetic signature is also giving vending machine operators a headache.

The vending industry as a whole will suffer a one-time cost of $40-million as a result of the coin changeover, said a January article published in the Canada Gazette, the official newspaper of the Canadian government.

fsuen@rawlco.com

Follow on Twitter: @fanyeesuen