Canadian Dollar Reaches Parity with U.S. Dollar Today

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Canadian cruisers, what does this mean for you?

 

http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=2768150

[Cruisin Suzin]

Canadian cruisers, what does this mean for you?

 

http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=2768150

 

 

Good times a comin...:)all that shopping, all that cruising.

[cruz chic]

Doesn't mean that much to me except for me spending money will be cheaper. HAL has a brutal exchange rate ($1.20) I think on cruises. I could book in USD but I book pretty far in advance so I'm not willing to take the chance that the exchange rate will suck later on.

[sail7seas]

Does it make sense to buy U.S. $$ when it is parity? I don't know if it is something beneficial over the long haul?

I'm no economist. :o

 

[Ontariotrekker]

Does it make sense to buy U.S. $$ when it is parity? I don't know if it is something beneficial over the long haul?

I'm no economist. :o

 

I've found that the $US is still the currency of choice if the country will take something other than its own. Last time we were higher ( $CDN went to 1.15), I stocked up in case.

['The Bear']

I'm busy 'salting' my spending money into my $US account for my January 2011 Maasdam cruise! This has been an ongoing event since the $CDN approached $0.97 US. :)

 

I normally book a year in advance and decide then which currency to book with, and this increase in value of the $CDN vis-a-vis the $US, seemed like a no-brainer in February. :D

 

Although we benefit markedly when cruising and shopping in the US, this severely hurts our manufacturing sector, since the US is our major market and Europe is a distant second, and of course the Euro is tanking as well!! :mad:

[sapper1]

Canadian cruisers, what does this mean for you?

 

http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=2768150

 

Off topic but congratulations on your big t-shirt win.;)

['The Bear']

'Sail' --- Our dollar has historically hovered in the $0.72 - 0.85US range for the last 15 - 20 years; only briefly passing parity a couple of years ago.

 

In my opinion, long term, once the recovery has been achieved, the $US will return to historic valuation, that is if oil prices ever stabilize --- so I'm happy to buy $US at anything > $0.95.

 

Unfortunately I know two people whose businesses went bankrupt due to this $C increased valuation :mad:; so my good fortune in saving a few hundred dollars, is overwhelmed by their complete loss of livelihood!! :eek:

[YXU AC*SE]

Does it make sense to buy U.S. $$ when it is parity? I don't know if it is something beneficial over the long haul?

I'm no economist. :o

 

Short-term, it depends on how you think the CAD will fare versus the USD over time, and specifically do you think it will rise above(!) parity. In Nov 2007, the CAD hit its all-time high versus the USD (1.1024$USD = 1$CAD). I bought a whack of US cash then. The recession in Canada was neither as broad nor deep in the US, and we have been quicker to rebound than the US -- I can't imagine that forever being the case, so this currency advantage is likely to evaporate.

 

While this is good news for Canadian travellers abroad (we've been gaining on the euro and pound sterling as well), it also makes Canada that more expensive for US and Europeans to visit, putting further pressure on our domestic tourism industry.

 

 

Scott.

[JayS]

Sorry to break into this thread, this Gringo doesn't expect a recovery for several years.:mad:

 

Don't be surprised if 0.90CDN = $1.00 US

[Atomica]

I'm stocking up on my USD and Euros at the moment - makes good financial sense to do so in preparation for our Med cruise this summer.

 

While it's great for us as travellers, it's brutal on many Canadian businesses. I work in the film and television industry here, and if it's cheaper for companies to stay down in LA and do production there, they will. Our low dollar has historically attracted many companies to do business in Canada.

 

I think what happened a few years ago will likely occur again - the dollar will hover around parity for a while before settling into a more comfortable $0.90-05 range.

[sail7seas]

We come to Canada every summer for at least two cruises and sometimes more. Taxes in Montreal/Quebec are awful. Does not encourage foreign shoppers by any stretch. Unless it is something I have not been able to find at home or is very, very special, we do little shopping. Too bad, as we don't have to fly home at the end of our cruise so have no limits on weight/bulk. The taxes keep our credit card in our pocket.

 

 

 

 

 

[CowPrincess]

We come to Canada every summer for at least two cruises and sometimes more. Taxes in Montreal/Quebec are awful. Does not encourage foreign shoppers by any stretch. Unless it is something I have not been able to find at home or is very, very special, we do little shopping. Too bad, as we don't have to fly home at the end of our cruise so have no limits on weight/bulk. The taxes keep our credit card in our pocket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One reason that taxes are so high in Canada is that a very small population needs to pay for comprehensive services across a vast land area. Our population is about 10% of the US's, yet our land area is very similar. The Canadian government (through the tax collection system) also provides a "single payer" health care system, provides armed forces to various areas in the world, assists foreign countries suffering natural disasters, and provides resettlement assistance for refugees.

 

 

Back on topic, I suspect by tomorrow this Canadian's Feb/11 cruise will be paid. :)

[MATHA531]

Does anybody really know? I remember two years ago, everybody was being told get your euro now as it was almost certain that the exchange was headed for €1 = $2 US...the euro has since dropped and today was under $1.35......what goes up must come down (or vice versa)...what I think is everybody should stock up on Chinese currency which seems to be the strongest in the world....but I was wondering why I saw so many Canadian license plates in the malls in the Buffalo area when I visited recently.

[DUHCAR]

Bought Broadway tickets today for the Addams Family.

[Johanna7]

We come to Canada every summer for at least two cruises and sometimes more. Taxes in Montreal/Quebec are awful. Does not encourage foreign shoppers by any stretch. Unless it is something I have not been able to find at home or is very, very special, we do little shopping. Too bad, as we don't have to fly home at the end of our cruise so have no limits on weight/bulk. The taxes keep our credit card in our pocket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We even have taxes on postage stamps. 5% GST and when our Harmonized tax comes in on July 1, it will be combined with our Ontario provincial tax thus 13% on stamps and services and yes, even funerals.

 

When I bought some stamps in the US a couple of weeks ago, I asked the person selling the stamps if there was tax. He said, No, stamps are a tax and we do not have tax on top of tax. Well, we do.

 

As our postal rates are much higher than in the US, I have been known to save my mail to the US to take it with me and mail it from the US.

 

Oh, we even pay tax on our insurance - yes, travel insurance. Unless we buy it from a US cruise agency of course. No tax. It was always 8% (the provincial tax) and now it will be an extra 13% after July 1.

[iancal]

For us it means more travel to to the US (and when we go we tend to do more shopping) and a more attractive cost for US cruise departures. But the USD is not the only currency that is taking a beating. The GBP is down by about 35 percent to 1.50. We are in the process of deciding whether to spend four weeks in the UK or do a US based vacation. We are leaning to the UK as we suspect that the GBP will slide down even more..perhaps to 1.35. THe USD may go down a few cents more but that should be it. Our travel patterns are governed by where we want to go (and it is a long list), the cost of currency, and the cost of living in the country where we are travelling. The USD should be low for another year or eighteen months. We will watch it and at some point buy some US dollars to put in our US dollar bank account when we think the USD is going up in value.

[sail7seas]

One reason that taxes are so high in Canada is that a very small population needs to pay for comprehensive services across a vast land area. Our population is about 10% of the US's, yet our land area is very similar. The Canadian government (through the tax collection system) also provides a "single payer" health care system, provides armed forces to various areas in the world, assists foreign countries suffering natural disasters, and provides resettlement assistance for refugees.

 

 

Back on topic, I suspect by tomorrow this Canadian's Feb/11 cruise will be paid. :)

 

 

 

.....

[Koshlong]

It means I'd better toddle on down to the bank and transfer some money into my US account, pronto. We book in US dollars and pay with a US$ credit card, so we can take advantage of the "good rate times" and not get stung by the "bad rate" ones. It's actually a pretty good way to save for a cruise...........

[DutchByAssociation]

Doesn't mean that much to me except for me spending money will be cheaper. HAL has a brutal exchange rate ($1.20) I think on cruises. I could book in USD but I book pretty far in advance so I'm not willing to take the chance that the exchange rate will suck later on.

 

I can't say it hasn't changed recently, but the most recent time I saw the exchange rate in the system (within the last couple months) it was $1.05 FWIW :)

[cruz chic]

I can't say it hasn't changed recently, but the most recent time I saw the exchange rate in the system (within the last couple months) it was $1.05 FWIW :)

Now that is more reasonable. When I've checked in the past it's been around $1.20...that's not cool. Thx for the info.

[CowPrincess]

I can't say it hasn't changed recently, but the most recent time I saw the exchange rate in the system (within the last couple months) it was $1.05 FWIW :)

 

I just booked a cruise in USD today, which was 20% less than what HAL is showing on the website for Cdn $.

[YXU AC*SE]

If one compares base pricing from here: http://media.hollandamerica.com/flash/ta_all_usd.htm to here: http://media.hollandamerica.com/flash/ta_all_cad.htm, HAL's 20% mark-up is still clearly in effect. (No magic to selecting those prices other than it is a rate sheet that shows a lot of cruises and a lot of categories all at once.)

 

Deposit for payment may be accepted with a 5% premium / exchange rate (eg paying in CAD on a USD cruise balance), however the base prices still reflect a 20% spread, subject to a little rounding to get to a nice XX99$ price for display. Lesson learned is that revenue / yield management for different markets should not be confused for exchange rate. :-)

 

 

Scott.

[soldham]

We even have taxes on postage stamps. 5% GST and when our Harmonized tax comes in on July 1, it will be combined with our Ontario provincial tax thus 13% on stamps and services and yes, even funerals.

 

When I bought some stamps in the US a couple of weeks ago, I asked the person selling the stamps if there was tax. He said, No, stamps are a tax and we do not have tax on top of tax. Well, we do.

 

As our postal rates are much higher than in the US, I have been known to save my mail to the US to take it with me and mail it from the US.

 

Oh, we even pay tax on our insurance - yes, travel insurance. Unless we buy it from a US cruise agency of course. No tax. It was always 8% (the provincial tax) and now it will be an extra 13% after July 1.

 

Actually - insurance (all forms) will not be taxed at 13% HST - it will only be assessed the provincial portion and thus remain at 8%.

[Warm_CND]

Doesn't mean that much to me except for me spending money will be cheaper. HAL has a brutal exchange rate ($1.20) I think on cruises. I could book in USD but I book pretty far in advance so I'm not willing to take the chance that the exchange rate will suck later on.

 

I've booked in USD ( well in advance twice now ). I liked being able to 'choose' when to pay it off. When the exchange rate is favorable I have paid it down. I just paid off my July cruise this week, I had booked it a few months ago, but trusted the predictions that the Canadian Dollar would be close to par this summer.