1 Dollar - Elizabeth II Constitution

The 1982 dollar commemorates the patriation of the Canadian Constitution — the culmination of negotiations that saw Pierre Trudeau's government finally sever the last legislative ties to the British Parliament through the Canada Act. The process was contentious enough that Quebec refused to sign the constitutional accord, a political fracture that remains unresolved to this day.

This was the first year the dollar appeared in nickel rather than the traditional silver or nickel-brass formats of previous commemoratives, reflecting a straightforward cost decision by the mint.