COVID-19 tokens cost feds $120K

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), a federal agency responsible for managing the country’s COVID-19 response, has approved a challenge coin-style project for its staff with an estimated cost of $120,000.

Better described as tokens (because the term coin” refers to official currency issued by a government and assigned a denomination for use in trade and commerce), they are expected to be distributed among all 7,500 PHAC employees, according to a Jan. 9 report by Global News, which obtained related documents through an access-to-information request.

The brass nickel-plated tokens and their accompanying blue velvet presentation boxes could come at a cost of $16 an employee with a total estimated price of $120,000 approved by PHAC President Harpreet Kochhar last June.

The planned design includes English and French on opposite sides with what the PHAC documents described in documents as a universally-recognized COVID-19 symbol,” the spiked virus particle as it appears under a microscope. The tokens were prepared for staff as an everlasting expression of gratitude” for their work during the pandemic, according to the documents.

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