Canadian dollar

[happycamper1942]

After several years of heading down to the USA for a couple of months in the late winter, we have more or less decided we will not do it this year due to the poor exchange rate of the Canadian dollar. At the present time the US dollar will cost us over 40% more, making everything too expensive.
I'm curious about other Canadians take on this, are you thinking the same or have you bitten the bullet and are going down anyway?

[joebedford]

moisheh wrote:
Joe Bedford: You are one stubborn fellow.

Why yes, thank you.

I'll just quote CRA IT-95R: "There are no provisions in the Act which specify whether a foreign exchange gain or loss is on account of income or capital" and leave it at that.

[Karenys]

Sorry about the exchange rate. We are taking a spur of the moment trip to Palm Springs. I called ahead and was told "no need for reservations as Canadians are staying home because of exchange rate". Bad for you guys but good for me! Will bet a lot of Snowbird areas are also effected by the money situation...

[Mike_E_]

Well, we recently booked our 3 weeks of camping in July/August in Washington and Oregon.

Yes, the exchange rate made the camping fees a bit higher (staying mostly at State Parks), but still nowhere near what it costs here in BC for a completely unserviced Provincial site.
Because I live in the Lower Mainland where fuel taxes are huge, I will be paying less for fuel, not to mention the cheese and microbrew. 🙂

For us, we just want to go where we want to go. We have friends who were going to come with us but decided to stay in BC simply because of the dollar though. When we asked them where they planned to go they said, "the same place we went last year." To each their own, but.....boring.

Anyway, I know our plans certainly don't relate to long-term snowbird situations, but brace yourself, we're coming on down 🙂

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Well, fortunately the world didn't come to an end when the Canadian dollar wasn't on par in 2008/9 and if you look at the prior decade plus going back from 2005 it surely wasn't.

As for the comments about Canadians wishing the dollar were back on par, are we really considering how badly this would impact our country right now especially with the global issues and oil prices we are all facing. Consider how much we are struggling now and that's allowing the higher exchange rate as oil producers are paid in US dollars per barrel!! It's going to cause further devastation at current barrel rates if the dollar drops right now.

Selfishly, I for one at my stage in life, but not for my working children, wish the Canadian/USA dollar were at par or better, for paying our USA non-homesteader property taxes, and our non-resident insurance rates and, and, and, but ........As the saying goes "be careful what you wish for".

I am not very aufait at all when it comes to political issues, so you can all have at her and leave me in the dust, but when everyone was dancing in the streets with lower at the pump prices (still nowhere near USA rates but ...) back in Fall 2014, I always responded about how it could be catastrophic for our oil industry so be careful what you wish for.

Whilst there is much news about Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary having extortionately priced housing right now, I am seeing folks, just as the USA did in the 2008/9 meltdown, distraught as their condos they are trying to sell are worth less than 10+ years earlier when bought in Alberta.

The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence, and we should all be careful what we wish for. Albeit, when someone loses, another gains, and once in a blue moon it isn't always just the governmental agencies either (LOL).

IIRC isn't there deep concern right now as well that Canadians are holding over 75 billion dollars in cash that is not in circulation for economic benefits. I'm sure they said something like 60% of Canadians are holding their investments/retirement savings in cash, not trusting anything, which is a major concern as well.

Take a look at retail with what occurred with small established businesses as big box stores came into being on bulk and cheaper, and now with internet buying, Walmart's even shutting down stores. It's all fine and dandy wanting everything cheaper, but we watched a major icon 18+ years ago demise named Eatons, Marks & Spencers pulled out of Canada around the same period, then a couple years ago was bye bye Best Buy (just mobility kiosks left), now Sears that have been struggling for a long time are closing down many stores after much restructuring in the past decade plus. There's many many more. I want to know in a few years time, where I'll be able to try on a pair of shoes or a bra for healthy fitting and other items before purchase? Of course everything has it's window of opportunity, but we all seriously need to think forwardly on the impact of our actions today!

Talk on the street here en mass about who in their right mind voted for the current government in power. Well duh, with everyone bitching and moaning about it, some of them must have. No good shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted!

I just really wish that folks would look at the bigger picture in life and the longer term impacts our wishing and wants of today in such a NOW society will have after the fact. I also wish folks didn't have such short memories. ie; Early 90's fender stickers saying "dear lord send me another oil boom and I promise not to piss it away like I did the last one". Well, guess what? They got another one and what did they do? Evidence everywhere here in Alberta, but they've still got their dozen Rolex watches to pawn at least. Every day we've folks that were earning huge bucks in the oil and gas industry, but living high on the hog and are now crying about being able to keep roof overhead and food in their families stomachs. Amazingly others that never earned a quarter of their salaries, lived well but frugally, saved for a rainy day and aren't as stressed.

Of course generations behind us aren't going to know any different than what they experience during their life cycles, but they'll be facing other issues as change inevitably continues forward.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

.

Campground space rental should be your biggest expense, eh?

*EASY* major savings on that one!

Boondock at Quartzsite!..:W

NEVER a problem finding a space, LOL!

Rotate to full hook-up cg occasionally if ya really must have 'em.

~

[Tom_Barb]

justme wrote:

pawatt wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:

Fizz wrote:

Do not turn this into a political debate!

Why not? politics is a fact of life and does effect our traveling/camping. Any civil debate should be allowed and those who can't be civil should be band.

If it continues to be political it will be closed or deleted. Please review the forum rules.

Discussing politics and religion have always been said to be off limits while on dates and with friends but they actually need to be discussed more often. Avoiding these issues are partly to blame for the world being in such a mess.

Agreed, but sites like these are afraid you might have a different opinion than the moderators.
Problem is, it's their bat and ball, if you want to play, it's their game.

[justme]

pawatt wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:

Fizz wrote:

Do not turn this into a political debate!

Why not? politics is a fact of life and does effect our traveling/camping. Any civil debate should be allowed and those who can't be civil should be band.

If it continues to be political it will be closed or deleted. Please review the forum rules.

Discussing politics and religion have always been said to be off limits while on dates and with friends but they actually need to be discussed more often. Avoiding these issues are partly to blame for the world being in such a mess.

[bob_nestor]

John&Joey wrote:
IMHO, if you're waiting for the dollars to get close, you're in for a long wait. Oil should go up, but unless the speculators get at it, I don't think it will go over $40-60/barrel.

Yeah, as long as the frackers can make money at $40/barrel, and most can, this will moderate the price for a long time to come. And improvements that the Canadian and US Oil industry are making in their fracking techniques are driving this price even lower. A lot of the OPEC countries need oil at $80/barrel or above to break even, so things will be rough for them. Just look at Venezuela as an example. There will be other OPEC countries going down this path as well, Even Saudi Arabia is having financial problems and they have probably the lowest break even point for the price of oil of all the OPEC countries.

A better hope for the Canadian dollar is some disaster in the US economy that weakens the US dollar significantly, and we may be headed for that over the next two years. The alternative is some political solution that recognizes the negative impact a strong US dollar is having on the US economy, but that may or may never happen.

[moisheh]

Joe Bedford: You are one stubborn fellow. It is not considered income. Here is another quote:
The Canada Revenue Agency requires taxpayers to report capital gains on foreign currency when the transactions are on capital account. Adjusted cost base must be calculated in Canadian dollars in a similar fashion to securities. When you convert Canadian dollars into a foreign currency, the adjusted cost base is established in Canadian dollars. When the funds are later converted back into Canadian dollars, a capital gain or loss will be realized if the exchange rate has fluctuated.

[John_Joey]

moisheh wrote:
John and Joey: You are using twisted logic. Why would you pick liquor to make a price comparison? Liqour in Canada is heavily taxed. This helps pay for our medical care.

I did that on purpose, because I knew it was heavily taxed to pay for medical. You see, that is not my problem, I do not get free medical why should I pay for yours? Canada could do what England does and allow the tourists to fill a form to reimbursed them for unfair taxes. Save the receipts, fill out the form, wait for the check.

moisheh wrote:
You state that you cannot come to Canada and vacation like a King. Why not.

Yes I over did it by using the word "King" to make my point. Sorry. I am convinced that your dollar should be stronger right now, but not to the point some here are thinking.

The word "king" was my attempt at drawing a picture where everything was heavily discounted in my favor, which it simple is not. I can not head over the border and buy that multi generational loved cabin on a great fishing lake at a fantastic price with the current exchange rate. I may get a good value, but not a screaming deal. That implies to me that the rates are getting close to what they should be.

IMHO, if you're waiting for the dollars to get close, you're in for a long wait. Oil should go up, but unless the speculators get at it, I don't think it will go over $40-60/barrel.

[moisheh]

bjbear: To make matters even more complicated you might be subject to US capital gains in the USA on a Park Model sale.

Moisheh

[joebedford]

bjbear wrote:

joebedford wrote:
I don't think your statement about capital gains on currency is correct.

I think Moisheh is correct as he states in his reply to this comment. Also, in our park, I know a few fellow Canadians who have put their places up for sale (park models), because the bought them when the Can$ was at $1.05. Now with the Can$ at 1.40, they stand to make a profit. I am pretty sure that if they do, it will be considered Capital gains and they will have to report it and pay the resultant tax.

I agree with you on the sale of a house but the exchange rate gain could also be income depending on the circumstances.

Depending on the circumstances, you could also claim a loss. It's not always gain.

[bjbear]

joebedford wrote:
I don't think your statement about capital gains on currency is correct.

I think Moisheh is correct as he states in his reply to this comment. Also, in our park, I know a few fellow Canadians who have put their places up for sale (park models), because the bought them when the Can$ was at $1.05. Now with the Can$ at 1.40, they stand to make a profit. I am pretty sure that if they do, it will be considered Capital gains and they will have to report it and pay the resultant tax.

[moisheh]

Joe Bedford: Why would you doubt what I wrote? Do you have some knowledge that proves me wrong? Are you a CPA? Fire away! Here is one of MANYMANY articles on that subject. I read it on MSN but could not find that article.

Not surprisingly, the Canadian tax system is “denominated” in Canadian dollars. This means that income (and loss) and capital gains (and losses) are to be calculated in Canadian currency using exchange rates appropriate for the transactions that have given rise to them.

Many Canadians consider U.S. dollars a reference currency. If the Canadian dollar falls against the U.S. dollar, there is an economic loss because Canadians lose purchasing power. If the Canadian dollar appreciates against the U.S. dollar, there is an economic gain. However, for tax purposes, the reverse is true.

Suppose that, when the Canadian dollar was at 70¢ to the U.S. dollar, an individual converted Cdn $100,000 to U.S. dollars, and placed it in a savings account; when the Canadian dollar appreciated to parity, the U.S.$70,000 was converted to Canadian currency. The Canadian equivalent would be $70,000, resulting in a loss of $30,000. Alternatively, suppose that when the Canadian dollar reached parity with the U.S. dollar, Cdn $100,000 was deposited in the U.S. dollar account; when the Canadian dollar declined this year to U.S.$0.80, the funds (U.S.$100,000) were converted back. This would result in a gain of $25,000.

In these examples, the loss would be a capital loss, and the gain would be a capital gain.

This seems simple, but suppose the funds were invested in say a U.S. treasury bill that matured? Suppose the funds would be reinvested in a second U.S. treasury bill, not converted back to Canadian dollars. In this circumstance, a gain or loss would result from foreign currency translation, because the new U.S. treasury bill is considered a new investment, to be computed in Canadian currency, resulting in a gain or loss from foreign currency conversion at that time. While this may not seem to be intuitively obvious, the rules concerning foreign currency conversion mandate this treatment.

In our experience, this is frequently overlooked. Generally, when trading stocks, investors deal well with foreign currency conversion, but frequently ignore it when dealing with foreign bank accounts, treasury bills, and even bonds.

Because of the major fluctuations in the value of Canadian currency this year, many clients may have capital gains from U.S. currency conversion. Although not intuitive, this is the unfortunate result of a decline in the value of the Canadian dollar!