The Canadian dollar... Ouch!

[AAAG]

our Alaskan cruise in Aug 2016, which is $8100 US, will be over $11,000 Cdn. We're rethinking our options right now.
We're also going to Beaches Negril in jamaica next month. We just paid for it last week and lost $1700 in the exchange rate. That's equivalent to the price of our flights, gone, just like that!
I think from now on, we'll be rethinking where we are going to go. We'll look for resorts and cruiselines that will price in Cdn dollars, or travel in Canada.
I do remember way back 15 years ago or so, when the dollar was bad and it was just the way it was. i can remember changing our dollar to euros and pounds and cringing. We've just been lucky the past few years. now our dollar is back to where it used to be.

 

[mevelandry]

We'll look for resorts and cruiselines that will price in Cdn dollars, or travel in Canada.

We came to the same conclusions when it comes to vacations in 2016 (hopefully the CDN dollar with pick up before 2017). We'll stick to Quebec and Ontario this year. And travel mostly during summer I guess (which we never do).

 

[DnA2010]

We'll look for resorts and cruiselines that will price in Cdn dollars, or travel in Canada.

Yes this is what DH and I have decided if we travel in the next while- possibly a cruise with Royal, or else travel in Canada.
Disney, Hawaii (DH and I were hoping to go away in March as we could get the flights on aeroplan but the the rest of the costs with 30/40% mark up just make it too much), NYC and some of the other places on our travel list may just have to wait a while.

 

[gumbypee]

just curious -
why is the exchange rate so bad?
How long has it been bad?
How does it get better?
Does it mean if I (US) go to Canada then my money would buy me more things? (meaning good for me to travel to Canada but bad for you traveling US)
Are your salaries more to make up exchange difference?

(I hope these questions make sense, just trying to learn)
Thanks

 

[Raimiette]

just curious -
why is the exchange rate so bad?
How long has it been bad?
How does it get better?
Does it mean if I (US) go to Canada then my money would buy me more things? (meaning good for me to travel to Canada but bad for you traveling US)
Are your salaries more to make up exchange difference?

(I hope these questions make sense, just trying to learn)
Thanks

1. The exchange rate began to decrease initially due to an increase in the US economy (moreso, the US dollar got stronger and ours stayed the same initially). The CAD started to nosedive due to the ever-falling oil prices as oil is one of our major exports. It continues to fall as our economy is declining.
2. The dollar has been declining for a couple years now but it only got really bad early this year with a steady decline since February or so.
3. Well oil increasing in price will help boatloads. Otherwise it will probably sort itself out in a few years (the CAD to USD tends to fluctuate up/down every few years)
4. Yes, your US dollars will go farther up here in Canada (about 30% farther) but keep in mind things tend to cost more here as well so YMMV.
5. hahahahahaha, no.

 

[keaster]

just curious -
why is the exchange rate so bad?
How long has it been bad?
How does it get better?
Does it mean if I (US) go to Canada then my money would buy me more things? (meaning good for me to travel to Canada but bad for you traveling US)
Are your salaries more to make up exchange difference?

(I hope these questions make sense, just trying to learn)
Thanks

Our currency relies heavily on the commodity market and right now the main commodity (oil) is down heavily. When the price of oil was high, our currency was doing very well. In fact when we bought our DVC in 2011 our dollar was actually higher than the American so we came out pretty good on the end of that deal!

Right now for us to buy 100 US dollars, it would cost us about $137 Canadian. For you as an American coming here to buy $100 Canadian dollars would only cost you about 72 dollars US. As a tourist, things are definitely better cost wise right now for an American coming to Canada than for Canadians to go to the US.

To translate into DCL numbers, a $4000US cruise would cost close to $5500 Canadian.

 

[Madame]

just curious -
why is the exchange rate so bad?
How long has it been bad?
How does it get better?
Does it mean if I (US) go to Canada then my money would buy me more things? (meaning good for me to travel to Canada but bad for you traveling US)
Are your salaries more to make up exchange difference?

(I hope these questions make sense, just trying to learn)
Thanks

Currency value is based on a country's economic outlook - for quite a while ours has been tied to oil & our other sectors have been allowed to languish & virtually disappear. Secondly we've tied ourselves to the Asian markets & the supposedly emerging Chinese middle class. Well, that's not working too well at the moment.

When will our $ improve? Either when oil improves or some other sector steps up to boost our economy. IE. Anyone's guess, but not before 2017-18.

When you exchange your USD for CAD yes you will get more CAD. Things cost more here (partly because of taxes), but it's advantageous.

Our average salaries might be slightly higher than in the US, but we pay more in taxes. Flip side, we don't pay health care premiums/deductibles (sorry don't know the exact term).

 

[AquaDame]

Wow, $1 to $1.37 seems insane..! No wonder my mother in law wants us all to drive up for an impromptu family reunion in February.

 

[DnA2010]

Wow, $1 to $1.37 seems insane..! No wonder my mother in law wants us all to drive up for an impromptu family reunion in February.

I bet.


Up at our local ski hill we have seen tones of Americans taking advantage of the exchange rate to take ski holidays

 

[gumbypee]

1. The exchange rate began to decrease initially due to an increase in the US economy (moreso, the US dollar got stronger and ours stayed the same initially). The CAD started to nosedive due to the ever-falling oil prices as oil is one of our major exports. It continues to fall as our economy is declining.
2. The dollar has been declining for a couple years now but it only got really bad early this year with a steady decline since February or so.
3. Well oil increasing in price will help boatloads. Otherwise it will probably sort itself out in a few years (the CAD to USD tends to fluctuate up/down every few years)
4. Yes, your US dollars will go farther up here in Canada (about 30% farther) but keep in mind things tend to cost more here as well so YMMV.
5. hahahahahaha, no.

Thank you!!! I was never very good at economics type stuff! This makes sense. Although that does suck about the salaries!

one more question - if oil increases, does that mean the cost of gas for our cars goes up too? (sorry for dumb question )

 

[gumbypee]

Our currency relies heavily on the commodity market and right now the main commodity (oil) is down heavily. When the price of oil was high, our currency was doing very well. In fact when we bought our DVC in 2011 our dollar was actually higher than the American so we came out pretty good on the end of that deal!

Right now for us to buy 100 US dollars, it would cost us about $137 Canadian. For you as an American coming here to buy $100 Canadian dollars would only cost you about 72 dollars US. As a tourist, things are definitely better cost wise right now for an American coming to Canada than for Canadians to go to the US.

To translate into DCL numbers, a $4000US cruise would cost close to $5500 Canadian.

Thank you, this helps. I think I understand the money stuff more now. I have always wanted to go to Canada, I should plan it sooner rather than later to take advantage of the money situation (sorry, it does stink for yall though). Thanks for cruise comparison too, that is crazy

 

[gumbypee]

Currency value is based on a country's economic outlook - for quite a while ours has been tied to oil & our other sectors have been allowed to languish & virtually disappear. Secondly we've tied ourselves to the Asian markets & the supposedly emerging Chinese middle class. Well, that's not working too well at the moment.

When will our $ improve? Either when oil improves or some other sector steps up to boost our economy. IE. Anyone's guess, but not before 2017-18.

When you exchange your USD for CAD yes you will get more CAD. Things cost more here (partly because of taxes), but it's advantageous.

Our average salaries might be slightly higher than in the US, but we pay more in taxes. Flip side, we don't pay health care premiums/deductibles (sorry don't know the exact term).

Thank you. Everyone has given such nice, insightful information. Hopefully some other sector will come fill the void.

 

[Madame]

Wow, $1 to $1.37 seems insane..! No wonder my mother in law wants us all to drive up for an impromptu family reunion in February.

It's actually almost $1.40 to buy now (or it was Fri night). My DH's employee rate was was a smidge better.

We're purchasing a DVC contract resale & won't close until the new year. We've already pulled the $ out of our heloc & exchanged it into USD. It's going to get worse.

 

[mevelandry]

Thank you, this helps. I think I understand the money stuff more now. I have always wanted to go to Canada, I should plan it sooner rather than later to take advantage of the money situation (sorry, it does stink for yall though). Thanks for cruise comparison too, that is crazy

Well... Tourism generates more revenue and more jobs... So it's all good! I know more tv and movie productions come here because it's less expensive for them. They can do more with a smaller budget. And it means more jobs for us.

 

[losfp]

Shrug. My $1 AUD buys about $0.72 USD right now. To work out my expenses on our recent trip in Oct/Nov, I was multiplying everything by 1.4.

It hurt, but it is what it is. That's the reality of travelling overseas. In our last trip in 2012, our dollar bought about $1.02 USD, so that was fantastic!

I think our average salaries are higher, however everything is more expensive here as well. Gas prices are about $1.40 AUD a litre, or about $3.80 USD per gallon. Everytime I do a USA trip, I fill up multiple suitcases with shopping.

 

[gumbypee]

Well... Tourism generates more revenue and more jobs... So it's all good! I know more tv and movie productions come here because it's less expensive for them. They can do more with a smaller budget. And it means more jobs for us.

ah very true! I can use the excuse that I want to help Canada's economy to justify a trip for myself!

 

[tinkerone]

It's actually almost $1.40 to buy now (or it was Fri night). My DH's employee rate was was a smidge better.

We're purchasing a DVC contract resale & won't close until the new year. We've already pulled the $ out of our heloc & exchanged it into USD. It's going to get worse.

I bought some today at 1.371 using my employee rate. its usually .025 less than client rate. does dh work for a bank as well?

 

[Madame]

I bought some today at 1.371 using my employee rate. its usually .025 less than client rate. does dh work for a bank as well?

Yes he's in financial planning.

 

[tinkerone]

Yes he's in financial planning.

i retired from banking a few years ago but get to keep the employee discounts....bonus!

 

[FLVacationGirl]

This seems so ridiculous, but the average house price in Canada right now is $456,186. http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/crea-housing-november-1.3365671

I think our average salary is only a bit higher in Canada than in the US.