We will probably never see any hit the streets.
Well, I'm sure we are not SUPPOSED to see any in circulation, but this is not 100% guaranteed. They are legal tender like any other note (at least according to the words printed on them).
The security checks must be very stringent and if any on these notes reach circulation or is publicly known that one is in private hands, some employees will lose their jobs and even may be will face to criminal prosecutions...and the note could be seized by RCMP...
If they are stolen and enter circulation, then obviously the BoC has the right to go after them. But if they get out "legitimately", such that they were redeemed for their legal tender, then I don't think they can do anything to people who are lucky enough to get such notes. I don't think HBG Macklem-Carney notes were supposed to get into circulation, and yet, a number of people have found them. A Journey series $5 note with prefix JHS got out, and as far as I am aware, it is not illegal to possess the note, so there is precedence.
I am wondering what differences there are between internal notes with weird prefixes (RDA, JHS) and internal notes with regular prefixes. My theory about "internal notes" was discussed in another thread. I think out-of-sequence printing of prefixes takes place to provide the BoC with notes for specific uses before the printers produce regular notes. I wonder if these notes are considered true notes before they get out of the BoC. What I mean is, the BoC has to keep tabs on the face value of all notes issued under its authority. So I wonder if the face value of "internal notes" is included in the overall number of notes printed, or if they have a special status, meaning their legal tender status is really just theoretical until they are issued. If they never get used as test notes or replacement notes, and they only ever sit in the vault, and the printers filled their obligation to print the required number of notes, the BoC can't just dump leftover notes into circulation. It is clear that they are perfectly willing to destroy unissued notes... the $5 Journey series Macklem-Carney notes are the perfect example of this.
