In April 1998, the Mint announced the Millennium Coin Design Contest, a contest open to all Canadians to submit designs for twenty-four millennium quarters, one for each month of 1999 and 2000. The 1999 designs were meant to look back on Canada's past, while the 2000 designs looked to the future. While the 1999 coins were labeled with their month of issue, the 2000 coins were labeled with the relevant themes.

Design

The obverse design features Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at 64 years old, wearing a new crown, surrounded by the Latin inscription "ELIZABETH II D. G. REGINA". This was the first effigy to be designed by a Canadian, Dora de Pédery-Hunt.

Designed by Donald F. Warkentin, the coin features a maple leaf, adorned with a flowing ribbon and three smaller maple leaves to mark the year 2000. It is surrounded with the bilingual inscriptions "CANADA" and "PRIDE 2000 FIERTÉ".