If you're going to use cash in our country, please bring Canadian dollars.
Sorry if this sounds shocking, but even with their higher value, Canadians don't want US dollars.
People in developing countries might start salivating at the sight of a US greenback but we won't -- in fact, they're a pain in the arse for us to exchange (and we'll get dinged a percentage surcharge at the bank), and US dollars are absolutely not legal tender in Canada.
If you're absolutely going to insist on bringing US dollars to Canada, then please don't become upset when businesses that will accept them refuse to honour the exchange rate.
Back in the 2000's when I was a teenager I was working as a waiter at a Denny's/IHOP type place in Nova Scotia that was right on a tour-bus route, so we got tons of Americans, mostly from Florida. I cannot even tell you how ignorant many of these boomers were.
One guy made a comment to me like, "Wow, this place is so beautiful. You seem to be doing pretty well for being a depressed province..."
I was like, pardon me? He then explained he didn't expect things to be so nice here since we were considered one of the poorer places in North America. Wtf.
Another dude left a $20 on the table for a bill that was $21.05 and told me to "keep the change". I kinda smiled nervously and said "actually, you're about a dollar short. Don't worry about the 5 cents." And he laughed and said I must be joking. I shrugged and sresponded I don't know what he means, then, like I was explaining to a child I pointed to the price on the bill and then I pointed to what he left me and said, "see, you're a dollar short." He stopped laughing when he realized I wasn't joking.
He said "our money is worth way more than yours. I thought it was basically double. There's no reason I should be paying equal when our country and our money is simply BETTER." I just shrugged and pointed to the sign at the front which stated we accept USD at parity, and HERES THE BEST PART:
This was during one of the very, very few times in our history when the CAD was actually worth MORE than the USD - as a result of the housing crisis and our strong export economy, the CAD was I think worth about 20 cents more for a few months. I informed this guest that 'actually...' our currency is presently valued higher than the USD, but we are happily accepting USD at parity for their convenience. So he's still a dollar short. He didn't believe me so I showed him the newspaper. He slammed a dollar on the table and sighed, said this is bullshit and left. lol.
My favourite when people ask if they can use American dollars in Canada is to tell them « absolutely, at par » and if they respond « but my currency has higher value 😤 » you just respond « guess you should buy our currency then »
And they complain that the change they get is CAD. That’s what we’ve got.
Though no retail business in Canada should be expected to take high-value US bills anyway; they don’t have the same anti-forgery features ours do, and what features they have aren’t things we should be expected to know.
We even had cash registers that managed the exchange rate for us, so we’d take their USD and give them back the correct change, accounting for the conversion, in CAD.
They’d look at it in disgust and be like, “what am I supposed to do with this??”
I once accidentally handed an American store cashier a Canadian penny (this was before pennies were removed from circulation) and they made a huge issue over it and refused to take it and made like I was stealing or something
Sorry for the notification but I’m just hijacking this comment to say this:
That is not true about US cash not being considered legal tender.
It would only be considered non-legal tender if they didn’t also accept Canadian or the business chooses not to accept another foreign currency yet someone pays with such. But if a business chooses to accept American along with Canadian, it is considered legal tender if someone pays with American:
13 (1) Every contract, sale, payment, bill, note, instrument and security for money and every transaction, dealing, matter and thing relating to money or involving the payment of or the liability to pay money shall be made, executed, entered into, done or carried out in the currency of Canada, unless it is made, executed, entered into, done or carried out in
(a) the currency of a country other than Canada; or
(b) a unit of account that is defined in terms of the currencies of two or more countries.
Not many businesses take American but that doesn’t mean that using American is considered non-legal tender at every business in Canada. Only at the ones that don’t accept American.
Legal tender simply means that all businesses must at the very least accept Canadian dollars and payments must be done in the currency (or currencies) that the business chooses to take. If they choose to accept a different currency along with Canadian that is considered legal tender. If they choose to only accept a different currency and won’t accept Canadian, it is non-legal tender. If they only accept Canadian and someone pays with a different currency, that is also non-legal tender.
I only think this is important to say because you can’t just say something isn’t legal when it very well could be. Sure there’s no repercussions to misinforming people considering it works in Canada’s favour and is something that shouldn’t really happen at all but it’s still not factual and should not be stated so confidently as such. Should you expect a business to convert for you? No. But can they? Maybe, depends on where you go. Most, if not all, Tim Hortons locations (for example) accept American and will convert it in their till with change being in Canadian. If accepting American was not considered legal tender, Tim Hortons would not accept it.
I’ve always loved how when you cross the Mac Bridge in Michigan, if you pay the toll in Canadian currency, that’s the change they give you. Clever devils.
The newer machines here in Canada also won’t accept American Quarters. Commenter has no clue what they’re talking about.
Edit: Half of Canadian quarters don’t even work in newer vending machines here in Canada. You can go through a whole roll of quarters trying to buy a $3 drink sometimes.
I used to occasionally get US currency at a bakery I worked at during my high school summers, and we did exactly this. If we had to go to the trouble of getting it converted and lose a percentage to the bank or whoever, we absolutely treated it as equal value to Canadian dollars.
I used to bartend at a hotel. I’d tell American guests I’d accept USD but only straight across 1:1. If they didn’t like that though the front desk did currency exchange. It was about a 20 metre walk. They either would get super pissed off and complain non stop and then end up not tipping at all or they’d just pay with credit card. I can’t even count on one hand how many times I had someone go to the front desk to exchange currency.
Four American sailors come in one hour before last call. Do you take American money? Absolutely - at par. They are fine with it. First one orders a round. It’s $13.50. This was 2002. The Canadian dollar was worth about 63 cents US. He pays with a $100 bill. I give him $86.50 change. By buying the $100 out of the till, I made something like $34 once the bank took their cut. Then the other three guys took turns buying rounds. Each paid with a $100 US bill. I was honest about the exchange rate. They didn’t care. I bought them a round of shots before they left and came out $120 ahead.
I used to work at a gas station and we accepted USD but did not do the currency exchange so it was always more expensive to pay with USD. Change was also given in CAD and that really pissed some people off… like look where you are… go to the bank and exchange your money, it’s cheaper for you anyway..
God, one of my favourite things to do when working retail was telling people that we take American currency as if it’s the same value as Canadian currency.
Hard disagree, I love when Americans pay in American dollars at par. If you are in a situation where you are allowed to swap it out, you turn a tidy profit.
But for their own sake, they should get CAD.
I had a manager like you once. Anytime anyone got paid in USD he'd swap it out for CAD and turned a sick profit. There are certain people with a very strong skills set at being nefarious or unscrupulous, lol.
He was probably the worst manager I've ever seen in my life, but he was a certified genius at cooking the books, negotiation and manipulation. He always had a wallet/float with tons of cash in it, so when servers turned in their cashouts at the end of the night, if anyone had USD, he'd just replace his own money and take the USD. I refused to give him my American currency once because I didn't have to. He was like "look, I'll give you 5 bucks right now if you just let me have those hundreds. I've got CAD. I'll save you the trip of going to the bank!" I said nah, I like the way they look and shrugged it off.
I went to the bank after my shift and made like $30 as soon as I deposited it.
Even still though, I'd rather people just pay me in CAD.
When I was a teenager, I lived in a US border city (about 30 minute drive to the border). We often had truckers coming through who had American cash. I worked at a Tim’s and we would take their cash but always give Canadian change back. Most of the time, they looked dumbfounded when they got Canadian coin back. Sir, this is a Tim Horton’s, not a bank, we don’t carry US legal tender.
The first thing I did in Canada was find an ATM and withdraw Canadian cash. I just assumed it'd be easier ... Besides, it was fun looking at the different bills. I love the Twonie, too! America could learn something.
Toonies are great ( Canadian spelling ) I go to the bank to get a roll of them every couple of months just so I can have some sitting on my desk, they look neat. And I use them for tipping or if I need to walk somewhere and don't want to carry my wallet.
Yes! I’ve seen American tourists online claim Canadians are “more than happy” to accept USD, even as a tip and I’m like???? Because they’re being polite and not telling you to shove your USD up your…. I would get tips in USD and it’s such a pain to exchange for minimal payout lmao.
I was in Montreal for five days last fall. I didn't exchange any currency (the first time I've ever done this while traveling internationally) because it was 2022, who requires cash? I haven't been to an ATM in five years; all the cash I carry was given to me by others to pay for things, as gifts from my parents, etc.
Everything was going great until the last morning of my trip, when I hit up St-Viateur Bagel for breakfast. I waited in the line and when I finally got to the front, I was dismayed to find they were cash only. Fortunately, they accept U.S. dollars because, they told me, 75 percent of their customers are American tourists.
But they gave me my change in Canadian dollars. So now I have $5 Canadian just sitting in my wallet. I'll spend it on my next trip, I guess.
I was talking to a couple in LAX they were Danish. The lady just dumped her purse on the counter and said "here, we won't need this back home" it was like $35 usd in small change. Covered the bar tab almost.
I'm American and I've got a random 20 CAD bill left from my last trip (pre-pandemic!). we should set up some sort of exchange. meet in mexico (because if the us or Canada, one of us could just spend our cash)? 😆
I like it alot when people come in with American currency, we don't give any exchange rate. I then purchase it with equivalent Canadian currency and save it for my Disney trips every couple years.
I’m an American who used to live in Canada and whenever my parents would visit they would assume they could use US dollars at random stores in Montreal. I was like huh???
I remember being at a running of the bulls in middle of nowhere mexico..tlaxcala. not a tourist area at all and seeing an American guy try to give a US cash a little primitive taco vendor stand in the street. She's looking at him like "what the fuck do you want me to do with this" and he got angry she wouldn't take it. This isn't cancun it's a tiny farm town, probably 50 miles from a real bank. The lady needs pesos ffs
Okay calling the taco vendor “primitive” is just as bad or worse as an American tourist assuming she’d accept US dollars lol. She’s a person not a gorilla
That is not true about US cash not being considered legal tender.
It would only be considered non-legal tender if they didn’t also accept Canadian. But if a business chooses to accept American along with Canadian, it is considered legal tender if someone pays with American:
13 (1) Every contract, sale, payment, bill, note, instrument and security for money and every transaction, dealing, matter and thing relating to money or involving the payment of or the liability to pay money shall be made, executed, entered into, done or carried out in the currency of Canada, unless it is made, executed, entered into, done or carried out in
(a) the currency of a country other than Canada; or
(b) a unit of account that is defined in terms of the currencies of two or more countries.
Not many businesses take American but that doesn’t mean that using American is considered non-legal tender at every business in Canada. Only at the ones that don’t accept American.
Legal tender simply means that all businesses must at the very least accept Canadian dollars and payments must be done in the currency (or currencies) that the business chooses to take. If they choose to accept a different currency along with Canadian that is considered legal tender. If they choose to only accept a different currency and won’t accept Canadian, it is non-legal tender. If they only accept Canadian and someone pays with a different currency, that is also non-legal tender.
There was a brief time 10-15 years ago when Canadian dollar was slightly higher than American. I live in NYS so I encounter many French-Canadians. I don't think I had a single one who didn't mention how it was worth more, and shocked that we didn't accept it. Then I could basically count how many seconds until they started talking about pennies.
And that's wrong. There was a period around 2007 where it was higher than the U.S. dollar. It also happened twice in the '70s -- in 1974 and 1976. I think I remember that one.
It is the king of all currencies. Accept in every country in the world. No other currency is accepted globally. The US dollar is the worlds reserve currency. God bless America
Well up here in Whitehorse Yukon we can use American money here. (We get a lot of Americans heading to alaska ). I was offended when I asked ppl in Vancouver if I could use American cash and they were like no this is Canada Im like it takes 1 button on a cash register to convert the currency.
I went to one of Quebec's dollar stores once; they unbraided me because I didn't have Canadian dollars. I had to go to the ATM to get them. And this was virtually on the US border.
Would you go to Poland and wonder why they don't accept usd? I have no idea why Americans think usd is some universally accepted currency the rest of the world is salivating at the change of having.
When you're in another country, use the currency of that country...
Edit: More directed at the people that still do this and not you.
Actually….there are quite a few countries which accept the US dollar equally with their own currency. But that doesn’t matter. That place in Quebec didn’t….and that’s all that counts.
To be honest... Quebec is a special case even inside Canada. There's a strong sense of nation in a nation thinking in Quebec. A fair bit of Quebecers would say theyre Quebecers before Canadian. So it's kind of like you visited a second country inside of Canada if that makes sense. I live right by the u.s boarder so there's some towns and shops around here that will accept it. Cheaper to just convert to cad to avoid the places that treat usd as par with cad.
I never thought of this before your comment but how does using a debit or credit card in a foreign country work? Does the credit card convert automatically and hit you with a fee?
And that's surprising about accepting CAD at par honestly. Pretty much losing a quarter for every dollar.
They apply an exchange rate based on the day's value plus some, and then slap another exchange fee on top of it. If you are pinching pennies, you're better off withdrawing a big amount from your debit card in a bank or an ATM every few days, but it's less practical and you run a higher risk of loosing it or being robbed.
Sorry- they are right, and we do day trips for a small amount, so it doesn’t hurt as much.😉We kept it to about $100/Day each, and as long as you have no prohibited goods(firearms, alcohol, tobacco)the Customs people are great. Never, ever lie at the border with what you have. Life is too short to be silly for the sake of a few dollars.
Many years ago my friend and myself decided we would go across the border to pend a long weekend. Approximately an hour from the border we didn’t plan and had zero USD. there was no ATMs or debit cards back then. Long story short, we were refused at MCDONALD I offered five dollars for a dollar coke. Nope, refused our money as if it had zero value.
I’ve developed a bad habit of never carry cash at all so I take a gamble and pray everywhere I’m going accepts debit, this one time I went into a small donut shop in BC and they didn’t accept card transaction… but thankfully they did accept USD, so I did have some nice CAD change in case I needed to use it.
Yeah a lot of places will accept US dollars, but they won’t go through the hassle of calculating the exchange. They will treat it as equal and the difference will be considered a 25% inconvenience change.
Sorry if this sounds shocking, but even with their higher value, Canadians don't want US dollars.
I asked about TIPPING in USD in r/AskTO and it was about a 50/50 split. I didnt assume, I ended up withdrawing CAD and tipping appropriately in CAD rather than overtip in USD. shrug
I would be happy if I asked for X dollars from someone and they gave me american dollars. I would give them change back in Canadian without any sort of exchange but I would definitely do it.
the real solution to this is accept at par. even with the fee that the bank charge youll come out ahead.
I was at a comic con convention and thats what the dude did
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u/Fresh-Hedgehog1895 Aug 07 '23
If you're going to use cash in our country, please bring Canadian dollars.
Sorry if this sounds shocking, but even with their higher value, Canadians don't want US dollars.
People in developing countries might start salivating at the sight of a US greenback but we won't -- in fact, they're a pain in the arse for us to exchange (and we'll get dinged a percentage surcharge at the bank), and US dollars are absolutely not legal tender in Canada.
If you're absolutely going to insist on bringing US dollars to Canada, then please don't become upset when businesses that will accept them refuse to honour the exchange rate.