The Canadian Dollar - Uvanu International

The Canadian dollar, commonly known as “loonie”, is the official currency of Canada. This coin has been available since 1858. 

If you come to Canada you will find 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollars notes and 5, 10 and 25 cents coins as well as 1 and 2 dollars coins. The popular appellation for the last two is loonie and twoonie respectively. The institution responsible for producing the coins is the Royal Canadian House in Winnipeg, while the Bank of Canada, located in Ottawa, is responsible for the production of banknotes.

The symbol used to denominate the Canadian dollar is $ or C$ and its ISO is CAD. The exchange rate USD/CAD is approximately 1.34; for every USD 1 your money has a purchasing power of CAD 1.34. Or what is the same, with CAD 1 you have a buying power of USD 0.74. You can see the exchange rate related to the currency of your country here

One thing to keep in mind when visiting the country is that in the Canadian culture, it is customary to leave  15% gratuity in establishments and services such as coffee bar, restaurants, taxi, hairdressers, etc. If you do not do it is interpreted as a rude gesture.

A bit of history…

  • The XVIII and early XIX centuries the influence of the Spanish dollar or peso, as well as the US dollar, caused Canada to decide to use the dollar in place of the pound sterling.
  • 1817 the Bank of Montreal issued bills in dollar form favoring the use of this, notwithstanding that the Atlantic colonies of the time had a greater affinity with the United Kingdom and therefore with the pound sterling.
  • 1958 the first official Canadian dollars were issued. Shortly afterward he joined the Canadian confederation, as it was explained in the post last week Canada, 150 years of multiculturalismThis phenomenon resulted in the development and progressive implementation of the decimal system.
  • April 1871 Monetary Unification Law. This law replaced the varieties of coins used in the different provinces by a single unit; The Canadian dollar.
  • April 10th, 1933, the gold standard was conclusively invalidated
  • 1934 Founded at the Central Bank of Canada

Nowadays Canada is celebrating its 150th Birthday and a special edition was launched. The Huffingtonpost.ca published an interesting article about it. Have a look and enjoy!  Those coins are so cool!

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