Cost of travel

Most sites we used were in Canadian dollars.
You should use a credit card to get the best exchange rate on date and time used.
We used cash machines to get Canadian money after crossing into our friends to the north. See if your bank has an affilliate in Canada
Fuel costs need to be converted from liters to US gallons and then price converted to US dollars to get a better comparison.
Our last trip through Canada found the converted prices were close to what we were paying in Washington state at the time.

One trick we do is when we travel south is take out USA dollars in lump sums of $500 increments so we only pay the international exchange rate once, instead of using the credit card, and having every transaction charged the rate.
There are a few credit cards I believe that don’t charge the international exchange rate, but my MC isn’t one of them.
Also a lot of places close the the Boarder with the USA will take USA dollars when you pay for something, however you will not get a very good exchange rate.
When my relitives from Oregon visit they change their money into Canadain money at our Credit Union. The Banks up here will also give you the best exchange rate, so check with your bank and see who they are connected with in Canada.
Cheers and have a great trip up here....
soup.

You should be getting at least $1.25 value for every Can. dollar. That helps a lot when you see how much more fuel, beer and alcohol cost us. Our credit card adds on about 35% exchange fees when we spend money in the US.

OP: Verify with your bank. We do not pay exchange fees when using the affiliate bank. We get a kick back on fuel and other purchases in CA.
Banks around here do not have foreighn currency. You must order it and pay fee.
When crossing back into US, we count up how much Canadian money we have. We then do a fuel stop and put in the tank.

Honestly, our prices up here are all over the map. And they're often higher than yours, for exactly the same things.

Gas, for example, might be C$1.33/L in BC, and right next door in Alberta C$1.09/L. That's US$4.02/US gallon in BC, and US$3.30 in Alberta.

The exchange rate is currently 1 US$ = 1.251 C$, so you think you're getting a deal when you come up here with US$, but if the same stuff you buy in the US is marked up 30% or more, the exchange rate difference is negated. You pay more for the same things up here.

Most of our provinces (except Alberta) have a provincial HST on just about everything. It's like your state sales tax, and it can be up to 15% in our provinces in the east, to 5% in Alberta which doesn't have a PST. They only pay the Federal part called the GST there. Unless stated, prices on the stickers on the merchandise up here do not include sales taxes, so be aware.

Typically food from grocery stores isn't taxed up here, same as in the US. However, if it's junk food, or you buy it in a restaurant, then it usually is taxed with that HST/sales tax thing.

If you compare prices in Canada to prices in the US, and do the math to convert the money back and forth, we often get less and pay more for just about everything up here.

If you exchange your US dollars for C$ up here, be aware that most Canadian financial institutions charge a foreign currency conversion/handling fee of around 2.5%. It gets blended into the exchange rate when they process your money. If possible, I would go to your local US bank and inquire about buying Canadian cash from them, as you might get a better currency conversion fee there, or they might not charge one at all. I'm not sure how US banks order and exchange foreign currencies, but I think there are some that don't charge that hidden 2.5% like our banks do up here.

Went into Canada for a day trip. Used CC to pay for some coffee and pay for a tour because I didn't exchange any cash..

While I saved some money on the exchange rate, the CC charged an extra fee for out of the country charge, so basically broke even.. I didn't really care, as I didn't want to deal with having to exchange cash.. Not big deal for what we did that day. The trip was worth it!

So, best to exchange for cash if you want to take advantage of the exchange rate..

Good luck!

Mitch

It’s a strange world.
Americans not going north because it costs too much.
Canadians not going south because of a poor exchange rate.

Check to see if your credit/debit card charges transaction fees. The benefit is you don't have to carry large amounts of cash around-just get cash as needed at an ATM. Use credit whenever possible, especially if you have a reward card of any sort. If your card does charge a transaction fee consider getting a new card that doesn't, especially if you will be traveling out of the country with an frequency.

Some helpful websites.

Bank of Canada Exchange rates

World Wide Metric conversion tables

Check eastern provinces for regulated prices of the week. www.google.ca nova scotia utilities regulation or nova scotia fuel price regulation. That usually covered auto fuel, propane, furnace oil. NS, NB, PEI, NL or all of Atlantic Canada are regulated.

Also Gas Buddy. com

16 kilometers = 10 miles. Or 160 kms = 100 mi. More practically, 100 km is just above 60 mi., Often highway speed. Bet you could pick up stickers to put on your odometer for the trip.

Once you've done us you'll be mentally geared up for THE WORLD, except for driving on the left side in countries related to England somehow, Oz, Nz, India, Pakistan...... Live web site on Christchurch, NZ They're the other side of the International Date Line

:B

Fizz wrote:
It’s a strange world.
Americans not going north because it costs too much.
Canadians not going south because of a poor exchange rate.

Agreed, the exchange rate could be better, but there are still plenty of bargains south of the border, if you know your prices up here, and can do the exchange rate math. Paying today's 1.251% exchange rate on products in the US that are priced 30%-70% lower than identical or comparable products in Canada, is still a good deal. And, typically most US states don't charge the same punitive sales taxes that our provinces do, and that keeps their prices lower. Groceries and gas are near the top of the list.
For example, the average gas price difference per liter between Canada and the US is C$0.25/L to C$0.30/L, in their favor. On an 80L fill up, that's around C$20/tank to C$24/tank lower. On bigger tanks, the savings increase. It covers the cost of the border toll over and back, if any. At today's local lowest cross border gas price of US$2.44, that works out to C$0.81/L.