Currency Rate

Does anyone know the current currecy rate of exchange. Also are there banks near the ports of Halifax and Saint Johns. Thanks! :D

As of this moment, US$1 = CA$1.034.....quite frankly, the two currencies are close enough to par that in most cases, it doesn't make all that much of a difference. Most merchants will take US money at par but the change will be in Canadian...get a lobster roll and pepsi for $12 (which is of course CA$12), hand the cashier $20 US you get back $8 Canadian (probably a fiver and a twonie and a loonie)...the thing is you might have trouble dealing with the remaining $8...loss n the transaction about 60¢...best solution use a credit card with no foreign transaction fee.

Does anyone know the current currecy rate of exchange. Also are there banks near the ports of Halifax and Saint Johns. Thanks! :D

http://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/exchange/daily-converter/

I usually check here before going to a bank. My bank usually charges another 4% fee while the local exchange stores are about 3%. I went stateside yesterday and the bank charged $1.07cdn for $1.00us.

As of this moment, US$1 = CA$1.034.....quite frankly, the two currencies are close enough to par that in most cases, it doesn't make all that much of a difference. Most merchants will take US money at par but the change will be in Canadian...get a lobster roll and pepsi for $12 (which is of course CA$12), hand the cashier $20 US you get back $8 Canadian (probably a fiver and a twonie and a loonie)...the thing is you might have trouble dealing with the remaining $8...loss n the transaction about 60¢...best solution use a credit card with no foreign transaction fee.

Although the currencies are almost at par, you'll often find local merchants charging a premium to use US $ in Canada. If the exchange rate is advertised it is normally at a 10% discount. Best not to try and use US $ in a Canadian port IMHO. In the scenario above you'd probably pay an extra $2 to use US currency.

The best way is to simply look for an ATM from one of Canada's major chartered banks (CIBC, TD, Royal, Bank of Montreal). Most ATMs accept the PLUS network and Cirrus and you shouldn't have a problem. The exchange rate will have a 3% premium but that isn't that big a deal.

Other option is to simply use your credit card.

Does anyone know the current currecy rate of exchange. Also are there banks near the ports of Halifax and Saint Johns. Thanks! :D

There are ATMs in the terminal buildings.

To the OP All Canadian Cities have Banks... (great big wink);)

Rates can change daily

the interbank rate is better than what banks/store actually charge you

I use this site to get an idea of the going rate

http://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/

I bought USD Friday for $1.05 =1 USD

I used Canadian dollars last year and was sorry I did. These ports get enough US traffic that they used each interchangeably. By the way- the

Canadian sales taxes are substancial, the chain shops are much cheaper in the US ports.

I used Canadian dollars last year and was sorry I did. These ports get enough US traffic that they used each interchangeably. By the way- the

Canadian sales taxes are substancial, the chain shops are much cheaper in the US ports.

Lou

The US chains store are more expensive everywhere in Canada ...they have to pay employees by the Canadian wage scale

Let me try to explain it. Madoff was pulling a Ponzi scheme, the same things banks do every day in the week and twice on Sunday. Except banks are licensed to do so. They try to acquire money as cheap as possible to make money by lending it out.

Currency transactions no matter what the currency rates are. You start with the interbank rate which is sort of the official rate which banks use among themselves for transactions daily involving millions and millions of dollars. When exchanging currencies, banks use the interbank rate and then add whatever their mark up is averaging something like 3 to as much as u or 8 perent to their sell rate...thus if the Canadian dollar is trading on the interbank rate at say 97¢ US = $1 Canadian, about a 3% spread, the bank selling rate for Canadian dollars would range from $1 to about $1.05 US for each Canadian dollar; because of competition on this particular currency, it would probably be closer to $1. They make their money by subtracting the same percentage from their buy rate. Thus if you try to trade back the same $1 Canadian (which you probably can't do since it's a coin) they would give 94¢ US...that spread represents the profit the banks make on currency tgransactions but that isn't strange as they pay you what 1% interest to acquire money they loan out at 3% or so. It's exactly the same idea.

Now I haven't been to a US bank recently and unlike banks in other countries, US banks do not post currency exchange rates in the window as do say C anadian or European banks but I would suspect my figures above are pretty correct. Most likely, I wouldn't stake my reputation on this, most banks will offer at today's rates Canadian dollars at par (but may or may not have other fees for currency exchange) or even at a slight premium.

Now from my recent experiences, and yes it's very limited, today (I can't tell you what's going to happen in a month or two) most Canadian merchants treat the currencies as interchangedable. Most Canadian merchants catering to US tourists which is very much so in the large cities probably have arrangements with their banks and probably have US dollar accounts (many Canadians have US dollar accounts with Canadian banks say if they're snowbirds and have on going US expenses for vacation homes and the like).

While normally I have thought in the past it's sort of insulting to use US money in Canada, pragmatically speaking and again I emphasize what we're talking about today, for a short stay in Canada it really doesn't matter all that much nor is all that necessary to exchange for Canadian dollars. Yes I understand no merchant is obligated to ake US money nor to give a reasonably good rate but tghen again so are banks. Today it won't matter much. Now on my recent cruise to St. John, NB we were given an hour for lunch in the market. I ordered a lobster roll and a diet pepsi (it was good but not awesome). The price was $12. I used my credit card, one without a foreign transaction fee, and ultimately the charge came through at $11.64 US represents the exact interbank rate. Bravo, I saved 34¢. All the merchants there, and maybe it is just because it's a touristy place, were taking US money at par (I don't know if they take US1 bills) so the person behind me on the queue bought the same thing, gave a US$20 and got $8 Canadian (as I said a loonie, a townie and a fiver). I'm quite sure if the person had exchanged for Canadian money it would have been exactly the same. OF course the difference is that person would feel obligated to spend the $8 Canadian before returning home as it would be difficult to change back.

Sorry for the length of the explanation but to me it's a no brainer. Use your credit cards and in those few cases where the purchases are not large enough to, in your mind or because the merchant has an asinine minimum to charge amount, just pay in US cash.

Of course things can change but to me, that's the way it stands today. And I'm sorry for the long winded explanation but it seems to me this is the way it is.

Just want to say you may not get change in CAD. On our recent land trip, we paid in CAD for our dinner. We got back USD. Which totally ticked me off. We had exchanged money prior to leaving and had budgeted our CAD. That waitress totally messed us up.

You can use the ATM. There are banks all over Saint John. Or, you can go to your local bank and exchange before you go. Chase charged us no fees, and the currency was ready in 48 hours. Easy.

Just want to say you may not get change in CAD. On our recent land trip, we paid in CAD for our dinner. We got back USD. Which totally ticked me off. We had exchanged money prior to leaving and had budgeted our CAD. That waitress totally messed us up.

 

You can use the ATM. There are banks all over Saint John. Or, you can go to your local bank and exchange before you go. Chase charged us no fees, and the currency was ready in 48 hours. Easy.

Sure it was easy but what rate dud Chase use? Many banks advertise no fees on curfrency transaction but bury the fees in a lower rate. I will stick with my point. Wouldn't t have been easier in the Canadian restaurant to use a credit card without a foreign transaction fee (they are readily available today). No that's easy (unless they try to stick you with dccd; I don't know how prevalent it is in Cabada).

I used Canadian dollars last year and was sorry I did.

Why would you be sorry to use the currency of a country you are visiting?

The only legal tender in Canada is the Canadian $$$ -THE US $$$ despite what some people may think is NOT LEGAL TENDER in Canada - Canada is not part of the United States - here's a question for the Americans on this thread - can I come to your local town and expect your merchants to accept my Canadian $$$ - unless it is a border town it is highly unlikely that it will be accepted so while many Canadian merchants accept US $$$ they are doing it as a courtesy - Please consider that when you come to visit "the true North Strong and FREE.

Cheers!

Dennis

Urban Traveler....nobody is questioning to the slightest degree what you're saying and I agree with you completely despite what you think I was trying to say. However, and I have visited Canada numerous timnes, like it or not, from the first time I visited Canada which was in 1967 when I went to Expo 67 American currency has been almost universally accepted by Canadian merchants with for the most part somewhat unfavorable exchange rates, especially in most of the major cities I have been to which are rarely more than an hour from the US border. And for the most part, I don't think it's right. I never have. However, there comes a time when one has to be pragmatic and it is not meant to insult Canada, its currency, its psyche, whatever.

As I said, at the present time, most Canadian merchants do take US currency at par despite the fact the official rate is about a 3% difference in favor of the Yankee dollar. I would suppose that if the loonie moves up against the US dollar, many merchants will, as they should, charge a premium.

What I posted in no sense was meant to disparage anybody. My solution remains not to use cash but to pay for everything with a credit card; that avoids the whole problem. But also bear in mind, this is a cruise site and in most cases, not all, visitors to Canada are there for perhaps a day pre cruise or whatever. So from a practkca.;\ point of view, one might not feel the need to exchange for Canadian currency and yes I know the same does not work when visiting the USA. I get it. As I said, I avoid the whole issue by using my credit cards and if anybody out there feels it is insulting to their hosts to use American money in Canada, there are always ATM's.

But there's no need to get angry about it. It's simply the way it is, like it or not. I hope I have done nothing to fracture US/Canadian relations.

But I'll just finish with a little story. On my first visit to Canada, I met up with a friend I had known in college who invited me to stay with him in his flat. As we were walking about, I turned to him (a Canadian) and said, boy I can't believe I'm in a foreign country. He turned to me and said, "You're not." as we headed to McDonald's. So don't get angry. I still love Canada and appreciate many of the things in your beautiful country.

Urban Traveler....nobody is questioning to the slightest degree what you're saying and I agree with you completely despite what you think I was trying to say. However, and I have visited Canada numerous timnes, like it or not, from the first time I visited Canada which was in 1967 when I went to Expo 67 American currency has been almost universally accepted by Canadian merchants with for the most part somewhat unfavorable exchange rates, especially in most of the major cities I have been to which are rarely more than an hour from the US border. And for the most part, I don't think it's right. I never have. However, there comes a time when one has to be pragmatic and it is not meant to insult Canada, its currency, its psyche, whatever.

 

As I said, at the present time, most Canadian merchants do take US currency at par despite the fact the official rate is about a 3% difference in favor of the Yankee dollar. I would suppose that if the loonie moves up against the US dollar, many merchants will, as they should, charge a premium.

 

What I posted in no sense was meant to disparage anybody. My solution remains not to use cash but to pay for everything with a credit card; that avoids the whole problem. But also bear in mind, this is a cruise site and in most cases, not all, visitors to Canada are there for perhaps a day pre cruise or whatever. So from a practkca.;\ point of view, one might not feel the need to exchange for Canadian currency and yes I know the same does not work when visiting the USA. I get it. As I said, I avoid the whole issue by using my credit cards and if anybody out there feels it is insulting to their hosts to use American money in Canada, there are always ATM's.

 

But there's no need to get angry about it. It's simply the way it is, like it or not. I hope I have done nothing to fracture US/Canadian relations.

 

But I'll just finish with a little story. On my first visit to Canada, I met up with a friend I had known in college who invited me to stay with him in his flat. As we were walking about, I turned to him (a Canadian) and said, boy I can't believe I'm in a foreign country. He turned to me and said, "You're not." as we headed to McDonald's. So don't get angry. I still love Canada and appreciate many of the things in your beautiful country.

You are correct, most businesses will accept USD but with a very unfavourable exchange rate, mostly because our banks give us horrible rates and we need to pass it on. So today's real exchange rate is 1.0299 CAD. The bank will give us 1.0025 but will also charge us USD$1.00 for the deposit (since we can't use the ATM) and USD$2.25 per $1K deposit for depositing cash.

That being said, two things... USD is not legal tender in Canada and therefore anyone has a right to refuse it, with no consequence and government businesses are not supposed to accept it at all. (I've seen a number of businesses in Montreal who don't accept USD at all and the public bus system doesn't as well.) I've seen signs that specifically say that USD aren't accepted. And I've seen posted exchange rates as high as 18%. When you should be getting 1 for 1, they are giving you 82c on the dollar.

Secondly, it's also common courtesy to use the currency of the country you are in. When I am in the US, people want to be paid in USD and not CAD. Should you not do the same in Canada? (A small percentage of Canadians are silent but insulted when you pay in USD. They won't say anything, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't affect their opinion of your country as a whole. It may not be right, but it's a reality. I've heard the comments before.)