The Loonie is somewhat stronger than it was, US $.73 the last I looked, but still low enough to be a factor.

Has the exchange rate affected any of you kind folks?

The drop in the Canadian dollar only effects every item's price on all imports, and all dollars spent outside of Canada.... (both of these effects are horrid)
Other than that, no effect at all.

you betya any guns, parts, books are out of reach

norm

wabigoon;
Good evening to you sir, I trust this finds you and yours well this evening.

I'm not sure really where to begin or end with your query sir.

With shooting related things, gunpowder if we can find it runs $50 a pound now for the most part. If I want a magazine subscription or book from stateside, there's up to a 40% up charge.

Shall I go on?

We're not going south this year in droves and apparently it's really hurting places like Arizona, Texas and some of the south east too.

We're selling our heavy equipment and trucks south of the line as fast as they can be processed though - I mean the folks on the other side of the medicine line are getting a 30% discount over what they'd pay there.

Last month in the grocery store a stalk of celery was $5.... it wasn't that long ago it was $2.50 - like as in last fall....

So there's few facets of our lives that aren't effected by it sir, sometimes for the better and often less than that - but as Canucks we're used to that and will surely survive this little bump in the road.

All the best to you folks in the upcoming weeks sir, may you stock up on sleep for calving season.

Dwayne

Just pack your fishing rod and come enjoy the early spring. Toss in a couple or three hundred US dollars, and you will be able to get a decent exchange rate ............not that the pickerel will mind much.

Looks like it's time for a trip to Canada.

I've actually been looking into deer hunting in Ontario, just need to find a 'trust' outfit.

The break for "Yanks", is helpful, but the "rub" is, many items are priced enough higher that they are still higher even after the exchange rate is factored in.

If you have not been "North" lately, find out if your credit card charges a foreign currency fee.

Cash, or a Canadian bank debit card will save a few percent.

That was my experience in '97. The exchanges rates were the about the same then. Nice, but the prices for many things were high, even after the exchange rates were factored in.

Yea, I use a CC as much as humanly possible in Canada.

When we moved to Canada the rate was ~$.75. When we left it was at parity. Came in handy when we sold the house.

We just bought some Euros a few days ago. We have a US dollars account, and by using US dollars instead of Canadian we saved about 3%.

Don't forget, Canada may be a close neighbour, but it is still a foreign country .............. Even to wabigoon.

Yes. Looking at supplies for the cabin. Rather than hauling them up. Looking to buy in country on the way up. Even with the tax, we are ahead.

Probably gonna keep dropping with a dumb Prime Minister like Trudeau in Ottawa.

Well Keith, Canada may be a foreign country, with a "Foreign" government, but there is nothin' foreign about the people.
994/100% are right good folks!

Up where my wife and I are from a lot of businesses depend on the cross-border trade. When the $CAN drops like it is now, the number of Ontario plates in the supermarket, restaurant and Walmart parking lots drops considerably.

Not commenting on the quality of the citizens either north or south of the forty ninth parallel, every time we head south, I deport myself as a visitor ........... A polite, law abiding visitor, and if I cannot afford the exchange on the currency, I stay home, or rob a bigger bank before turning south on 502 highway. ;-)

Where I work we produce pulp and paper, when the C$ is down this far our companies are making money hand over fist because they sell in US$. We don't have to worry about production curtailments, and they are much more likely to invest in better equipment.

So while my pay packet buys less, I have some job security that can't be provided in the O&G business.

World finance is beyond my feeble mind.
Back in 2002, my wife bought a Husqvarna sewing machine in Dryden, Ontario.

Back then the rate was US$ .65 to C$1.
The machine is made in Sweden, but the price was the same, or close in both dollars.
The rate made the sewing machine "cheaper", in Canada.

It's interesting. In 1998, when the $C was down, I bought a Miller welder in Watertown, NY. The list was around $2700 IIRC. I told the dealer, "If that's the best you can do, I can go over to Kingston (Ontario) and get it for (considerably less) with the exchange, and get my sales tax back at the border. He gave me a real good deal and sweetened the pot with a few extras.