dummy question…when in canada(penticton) from the states, will i be rich or poor? basic items-grocery store, eating out,etc…exchange rate? thanks john
basic grocery items will be cheaper. I know when I went down to visit my brother and to race in Lake Placid I couldn’t believe the prices of some grocery items. Plus you are getting 25 cents on the dollar so you are coming out way ahead. WHen my brother comes up, he can stretch his dollars for quite a bit longer. I found to eat out though it was about the same. Subway and McDonald’s is cheaper down South though.
Will you be rich? How much are you planning on bringing? A million? Yeah I would consider that well off. 
Rich…except if you drive. About $3.50/gallon (USD) right now.
hell no not rich…trying to spend as little as possible on this trip…
Check your credit card policies. One of mine recently changed policies, and started charging a fee for converting currencies.
www.x-rates.com for current rates. (Although, different places will ‘bury’ their fees by using a different rate.)
Currently the rate hovers between .78 and .80 US to Canadian dollar. But GST and Provicial sales tax add between 16% and 18%. Credit cards are usually the way to go to get the best rates (or use your debit card to get cash). As said earlier check with your credit card co. Gas is outrageous. I had a few vendors in BC charge .90 or par on sales. Not nearly as much fun as it was 2-3 years ago.
Canadian dollars are far more attractive.
I like the color variety and the type face is more readable.
Plus, no Mason symbolism.
If you save receipts, you can get a refund of the taxes you paid. There are some forms to fill out, available at the border crossings, and online (I think).
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/nonresidents/visitors/tax-e.html
you going to quebec or BC?
it’s canadian…not this french spelling crap.
The best thing is you pay with a U.S. twenty dollar bill and you’ll get $20+ in canadian change! 
CAD is trading @ 1.2025, or 0.8316, meaning your US$ is only worth $0.83 across the border.
Um… its actually the other way around, so US$1 buys you CAN$1.20 or so. While we might wish it were the other way when we travel to the US, I think lots of Canadian businesses wouldn’t be so pleased.
Andrew
AJK’s right… had my numbers reversed. But hey, it’s Monday!
Canadian dollars are far more attractive.
I like the color variety and the type face is more readable.
Agreed. Their money is pretty.
They also have the benefit of having the picture of the royalty of another country on them.
Kinda like if the US treasury put the King of Norway on the dollar bill. And Czar Nicholas on the 20.
Weird. But it all spends the same.
Except up here’s it’s ‘colour’… not ‘color’.
So we have a ‘colour variety’ in our money.
Trev
Usd / Cad presently trades at 1.2033 in the global interbank spot market , or as quoted in Cad (83.10 cents USD , to purchase 1$Cad ).14.43 Singapore time.
The Usd$ is expected to trade in this range in the short-term ( which is I imagine when you will be visiting ). By and large , your Usd will go substantially further in Canada than it will in the United States.
ACtually the British monarchy is technically still our head of state, same as Australia and all the other commonwealth countries. To over simplify (because this isn’t civics class) - Our parliament (House of Commons (with a prime minister etc - the main elected legislative body and Senate) pass laws which then get signed by the governor-general as the representative of the Queen. Technically the governor-general / queen has the power to overturn acts of parliament but has not used this power in a very long time (I am not sure if ever but I am sure that is wrong). I guess we put her on our money so she won’t us her veto :). Plus she is a hell of a lot more attractive than Trudeau or Mulroney etc.