Going to toronto is it best to use canadian dollars or us$?

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Nebish

Ow! Some snippy answers here. Not all of us Torontonians are so easily piqued. To respond to your question, here are some guidelines for you:
1.) exchange funds as few times as possible. Every time you exchange from one country's currency to another the bank or currency exchange service takes their cut. So, if you have any Canadian dollars, c'mon up and spend those. If you don't, be careful not to load yourself up with so many $Cdn that you exchange them again to $US at the end of your stay. The banks will love you because you will have paid them twice. But their love will have been bought which makes the banks, well, I think you have the idea;

2.) call your credit card company and find out what their fee is when you make a charge in $Cdn but pay your statement in $US. Some companies charge 3% for every purchase! You may feel this is worth it in exchange for not carrying so much cash;

3.) when you enter Canada, ask at the border about the program that reimburses taxes for certain purchases. Purchases for services (e.g. hotels) do not generally apply. Purchases for goods (e.g. clothing) generally do. Find out the details and save receipts/documentation;

4.) for some cash on-hand, an ATM withdrawl is convenient. While it might not get you the best exchange rate, this should matter little if you are only going to withdraw a couple hundred dollars;

5.) c'mon up and have a good time. Toronto is a great city!

gordc238

Canadian. The currency is about par at the moment but you will still lose $50 on $1000 if you go with American notes. Besides the Canadian money is prettier.

Explorer

use Canadian cash.
We accept american money, but changing money at the stores you will get a very poor exchange rate.
Change your money at a bank or use a credit card.

khrystenat

Use Canadian Dollars,
Not every store will exchange american money and the ones that do will give you a horrible exchange. Whenever visiting another country you should use their local money, like if i was going to the USA i would make sure i had US Dollars.

SteveN

Most restaurants, taxis, and small businesses in Canada will accept US dollars as it is a currency that can be easily exchanged at the bank.

That being said, do not expect to get the full value for your dollar. On a taxi ride of $32, the taxi driver will likely take your two US $20 bills and give you only CAD$8 back in return, even though at the bank, you might get CAD$42.10 for the two Jacksons.

My reccomendation would be to do what I do when I visit USA. Just go to the nearest ATM machine when you get to your destination and take out $200 using your debit card (I recommend a larger amount so that if your bank charges a fee for using the bank machine outside your network, you are not getting charged a large fee on a small withdrawal, and you are less likely to have to go back a second time, incurring more fees). You will be charged the daily exchange rate by your bank, and then you will have the right currency for the country you are in.

For hotels, car rentals, and larger restaurant bills, I charge it to my Visa or Mastercard, and they give me their daily exchange rate.

MelissA

Most likely Canadian. Shop owners are much more apt to be polite if you do use Canadian currency. With the exchange rate at what it is right now, it won't make a substantial difference anyway. If you have a US debit card from a bank that has a deal with a Canadian bank (my TD card works with no service charge in the US) that would be a simple idea also.

charliebeerslash

have a day off trigger,would you spend francs in your local tesco.

kr_toronto

Since the exchange rate is practically ZERO right now - I would exchange whatever you THINK you need all at one time. If you find out that you don't have enough - then it's not really going to hurt you to use the US dollar...

I have seen signs posted in some stores (Dominion immediately comes to mind) saying that they will only take US money AT PAR!!!
(or at least US COINS)

I know that's only a loss of a few cents on each dollar - but it adds up over time ;););)

Caroline J

lol

pepzi_bandit

well, it in CANADA

JohnnyOneLung

Why would you take US$ ??????????
Are you going to America - NO

Can we enter this question into the Yahoo Hall of Fame for Most Idiotic Questions.

By the way - you have won the JohnnyOneLung lottery.
Please send me your bank details and a processing fee of Â£5000.

superstar dj

Well, I use German Marks in Washington all the time, so why not use US dollars in Canada.

nbr660

What country is Toronto in? I would say loonie then.

Carl

If you were going to Istanbul would you ask if its best to use Turkish or U.S. money? What a stupid question. What the hell do you think would be best?

mbt4955

I just got back from Toronto on Monday and I don't believe that you will be able to use US currency while you are there. I either use my credit/debit card or go to an ATM and withdraw money from my account. It will be in Canadian currency, so you should be set. Have fun!

Ryan M

hmmm dereks an ill informed american me thinks, are u related to the president by chance?

HO HO HO HIC

comming to canada use canadain cash when we go to the usa we have to buy american cash as canadain is not accepted almost went to jail ate supper in the usa all i had was canadain cash they called the police they were going to lock me up until someone came and paid my bill in usa cash.
SO USE CANADAIN CASH

c g

the us dollar exchange rate is 2. something to the pound at the moment, so use $ for def, youll have loads more money to spend, hope you have a really nice time x.

Kelly B

Get US the exchange rate is excellant at the moment.

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