Looking to ski down Whistler? Or catch a wave in Nova Scotia? You’ll find your staple in the land of maple.
But to unlock this treasure chest of Canadian craziness, correct currency is critical. Before taking off, you’ll need Canadian dollars. Over there they use the good ol’ dollar, which naturally has its own local nickname. The loonie thing is, that’s its nickname! So if you have a Canadian ask you for ‘2 loonies’, it’s certainly no insult.
We get it, doing your holiday budget is a snore fest. It's important though, so we've made it super easy for you to do now. Just punch in your holiday deets and we'll combine destination spend data with our exchange rates so you know how much to take. Easy peasy budget donesy!
To show just how close the cultures of New Zealand and Canada are, you only need to look at the currency. We each use the 10, 20 and 50 cent coins, along with the $1 and $2 coins (although the Canadians have a 5 cent coin, too). From there, we both rely on the $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 notes. But Canada does one-up us in one way: there are some rare $500 and $1,000 notes in circulation, although seeing them as a tourist is fairly unlikely. But think of all the maple bacon you could buy if you had some of those bad boys!
The CAD historical rate chart allows you to set a date range to see trends in the exchange rate. Political, world and local events can cause rates to fluctuate; but if you don’t find the rates you need, never fear. You can sign up for currency alerts, which will alert you when the CAD hits your desired rate, so you won’t be seeking any apologies when you arrive.