Money Issues

Canada - Currency

The monetary unit in Canada is the Canadian Dollar ($Cdn). The dollar is made up of 100 cents. Coins include the "Toonie" (2$), the "Loonie" (1$), 25c, 10c, 5c and 1c. All of the bills are clearly marked and differentiated by colour (5$,10$, 20$,50$,100$). In many establishments, American dollars are accepted as payment, however, always at a more unfavourable rate than the banks.

USA (Alaska) - Currency

The monetary unit in USA is the American Dollar ($US). The dollar is made up of 100 cents. Coins include 25c, 10c, 5c and 1c. The bills are not as clearly marked so we advise to be extra careful when paying/receiving change.

Money Issues

Credit cards are accepted almost everywhere (VISA, Mastercard, and to a lesser extent American Express). We suggest using credit cards as much as possible, rather than carrying lots of cash. They also generally result in a favourable exchange rate.

Bringing some Travellers Cheques or cash is another option in Canadian Dollars (or $US, for Alaska). Travellers Cheques are accepted in many places, but always make sure that they are in denominations of less than 100$ for ease of use.

If you have a bank card (debit card) with "Plus" you will be able to access and withdraw funds from your bank account from abroad at any one of the many cash machines, located even in small towns. The exchange rate on these transactions is also very good usually.

We recommend a combination of the above to have multiple options.

Normal banking hours in Canada and in the US are from 10 am until 4 pm, Monday to Friday, with some branches now offering longer hours, depending on the location. The majority of banks offer currency exchange services.