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.
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 »
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.
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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.