Skip to content ↓

It’s a Fact, Eh? – The Loonie and the Dollar

I maintain an occasional series of articles called “It’s a Fact, Eh?” which offers little glimpses at some of the joys, complexities, and eccentricities of being Canadian and living here in the Great White North. Today I want to talk about the Canadian dollar and its relationship to its American counterpart. Really, I want to talk about the Canadian obsession with the U.S. Dollar.

When you listen to a Canadian news report, you will almost always hear how the Canadian dollar (the Loonie) is doing in comparison to the American dollar. “Today the Loonie gained two basis points and closed at 75.92 (US).” Canadian media reports this information on a daily basis because Canada is so heavily dependent on our relationship with the United States in matters of trade. A lot of what we buy, what we eat, what we watch, what we read is shipped up from America. We buy these products in Canadian dollars, of course, and that Canadian dollar gains and loses value in comparison to the greenback. Sometimes the Canadian dollar gains in strength so that the two currencies are roughly equal, but sometimes there is a twenty or thirty-percent disparity between them. Currently one Canadian dollar will purchase just seventy-five cents American.

Why does this matter? It matters a lot when it comes to those products that come to Canada from the U.S.. When the Canadian dollar is strong, as it has been quite recently, we tend to pay the same amount as Americans for these products. So, for example, the cheapest apps at the Apple App Store are typically $0.99, just like in America. But then sometimes the Canadian dollar loses value just like it has done recently. When this happens there is a sudden adjustment and one day we wake up to find the apps now begin at $1.29. The app that cost $9.99 yesterday costs $13.99 today. The computer that was $999 is now $1299 or $1399. Book prices fluctuate the same way (in both print and electronic formats) as do movies (so that renting movies online now costs $5.99 instead of $4.99). Even groceries are affected—we are paying twenty percent more for produce this year than we were last year since the bulk of it is shipped up from California.

This all makes sense. Those American manufacturers can’t lose twenty-five or thirty-percent in the currency exchange. But here’s where it gets difficult for Canadians: When our dollar weakens, certain products and services experience a dramatic rise in cost, but our salaries do not. So even though we now pay twenty percent more for produce, for online services, and for certain other items, some of which are luxuries and some necessities, we do not have a commensurate rise in income to offset it.

So now you know why when you come to Canada you will always hear about the American dollar on the Canadian news. It’s a fact…


  • A Batch of New Books for Kids

    A Batch of New Books for Kids (and Teens)

    Every month I put together a roundup of new and notable books for grownup readers. But I also receive a lot of books for kids and like to put together the occasional roundup of these books as well. So today I bring you a whole big batch of new books for kids of all ages…

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (March 28)

    A La Carte: The case against the abortion pill / What I’ve learned about grieving with hope / Heartbreaking deception: teen girls, social media, and body image / Could podcasts save the church from stupidity? / Count it all joy / and more.

  • What God Wants You To Forget

    What God Wants You To Forget

    We are never far from reminding God of our credentials, of providing him with a curriculum vitae that lays out all we are, all we have been through, and all we have accomplished for his sake. We are never far from making the subtle turn from grace to merit, from what is freely given to…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 27)

    A La Carte: New music / Millennials and GenZ / Scotland’s new hate crime law / Cate Blanchett, Easter is for you / Why the Reformed pray for revival / What truly happened to Jesus on the cross? / and more.

  • New and Notable Books

    New and Notable Christian Books for March 2024

    As you know, I like to do my best to sort through the new Christian books that are released each month to see what stands out as being not only new, but also particularly notable. I received quite a number of new titles in March and narrowed the list down to the ones below. I…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 26)

    A La Carte: God delivers from the suffering he ordains / The beautiful partnership of family and church / The end of religious liberty / On whales, menopause, and thanks to God / Ordinary women, extravagant gifts / and more.