QUEBEC - Canada's currency overhaul has entered a new phase today.

A new plastic $50 bill has become the first polymer note available through bank machines.

It is being released several months after the new plastic $100 bill, and is part of a broader upgrade of Canadian paper currency.

The new $50 bill, just like the old one, is red and features former prime minister Mackenzie King on the front.

But this one also features the icebreaker, the CCGS Amundsen; it's partly transparent, and it contains hard-to-counterfeit holographic features.

In presenting the new bill today in Quebec City, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney calls it state-of-the-art technology that will give Canadians confidence in the integrity of their currency.