Decimalization received a further boost a few years later. Following a recommendation from the public accounts committee, the Canada revised the Currency Act in 1857 so that, as of January 1, 1858, all provincial accounts would be kept in dollars. Silver and bronze coins, denominated in cents and bearing the word “Canada,” were also issued for the first time later that same year. This marked the birth of a Canadian currency.

In Nova Scotia, decimalization occurred on January 1, 1860. Because that province rated the sovereign at $5 instead of $4.8666, its currency remained incompatible with that of Canada and New Brunswick. New Brunswick officially decimalized on November 1, 1860, and Newfoundland followed in 1863. The colony of Vancouver Island also decimalized in 1863, followed by British Columbia in 1865. Manitoba decimalized in 1870, upon its entry into Confederation, and PEI followed in 1871.

In Canada, the Finance Act of 1914, which had been adopted as a war measure, was extended in 1919 and revised in 1923. Under the revised act, provision was made for an automatic return to the gold standard after three years unless the government took steps to the contrary. The Finance Act gave the government the power to act as a lender of last resort to the banking system, being one of the powers of a modern central bank. It also provided a means for the government (Treasury Board) to set the Advance Rate, the rate at which it would make loans to the chartered banks. Advances under the Finance Act got made at the request of banks. The government could not freely adjust bank reserves in order to expand or contract the monetary base. So the government did not actively manage interest rates, nor was there any board overseeing the conduct of monetary policy.

The revised act also gave the dominion government greater power to adjust the rate at which banks could obtain funding. The Treasury Board, which was responsible for administering the act, did not conduct an active monetary policy. The Advance Rate remained fixed at 5 per cent, the same level it had been throughout the war. There appeared to be little overt official effort to tighten monetary policy in hope of an eventual return to the gold standard, which would fix the dollar at its pre-war value in terms of gold and at par with its U.S. counterpart.

The Bank of Canada Act received royal assent on July 3, 1934, and the central bank officially started operations on March 11, 1935 and the Dominion Notes Act and the Finance Act were both repealed. Dominion notes were quickly replaced by new Bank of Canada notes. A revised Bank Act, governing the operations of the chartered banks, also took effect in 1934. Revisions to this act initiated a phase-out of private bank notes in favor of Bank of Canada notes.

Another important piece of legislation passed at this time was the Exchange Fund Act, which finally received royal assent on July 5, 1935. The primary purpose of the act was to provide a fund that could be used to “aid in the control and protection of the external value of the Canadian monetary unit.” The resources of the Exchange Fund came from the profits associated with the revaluation of the Bank of Canada’s gold holdings from the old statutory price of $20.67 Canadian per ounce to the prevailing world market price of $35 USD per ounce. The Exchange Fund Act was passed in 1935, the section of the act dealing with the use of the fund to help the value of the Canadian currency was not put into effect until September 15, 1939, following Canada’s entry into World War II.

For a high quality currency conversion tool just use: www.currencyconverter.com

The way the converter works is it changes a set amount of Canadian money into a foreign currency by multiplying the amount by the current exchange for one dollar. For example if one dollar is worth two in a foreign currency, then fifty in the local dollars would be worth one-hundred foreign dollars. Currency conversion is easy with a calculator, it’s finding the exchange rate which can be difficult.

For determining if a currency will get better or worse one should look at the currency conversion factors laid out on appreciation, volatility, and comovements.

Appreciation
- ‘Change’ refers to the appreciation or deprecation of the Canadian loonie against a foreign currency. A positive number refers to appreciation and negative numbers refers to deprecation. The Canadian dollar going up from to 1.16 against the US dollar ‘last’ vale is a change of 16.
- ‘Change Index’ is the current value of the Canadian currency relative to it’s value one year ago. The past year value is 100 so if the ‘change’ this year was 16 then the ‘change index’ is 116.

Volatility
- ‘Volatility’ is the standard deviation of the one day percentage change.
- ‘Volatility Index’ is the ratio of the 30-day and 100-day volatility measure times 100. A number over 100 shows increasing volatility, less than 100 shows a decrease.

Comovements
- ‘Comovements’ shows the correlation between the currency unit and foreign currency. The less two currencies are correlated the more diverse they are. If they are well correlated then they are not useful for diversification purposes. The coefficient is a number between -1 and 1. If a diverse portfolio is desired a low number is wanted, if a undiverse portfolio is wanted then you need a high Comovements value.

Algerian Dinar DZD 68.144 = 1 CAD
Argentine Pesos ARS 1.1949 = 1 CAD
Australian Dollars AUD 1.1639 = 1 CAD
Bahamian Dollars BSD 1.0131 = 1 CAD
Bahraini Dinars BHD 0.3813 = 1 CAD
Barbados Dollars BBD 2.0261 = 1 CAD
Bermudian Doallars BMD 1.0131 = 1 CAD
Brazilian Reals BRL 1.8159 = 1 CAD
British Pounds GBP 0.5123 = 1 CAD
Bulgarian Lev BGN 1.3766 = 1 CAD
Canadian Dollars CAD 1 = 1 CAD
Chilean Pesos CLP 502.51 = 1 CAD
Chinese Renminbi CNY 7.446 = 1 CAD
Colombian Pesos COP 2012.1 = 1 CAD
Cypriot Pound CYP 0.4119 = 1 CAD
Czech Koruna CZK 18.653 = 1 CAD
Danish Kroner DKK 5.2466 = 1 CAD
Egyptian Pounds EGP 5.5981 = 1 CAD
European Euros EUR 0.7031 = 1 CAD
Fijian Dollars FJD 1.5886 = 1 CAD
French-African Francs XAF 461.25 = 1 CAD
French-Pacific Francs XPF 83.893 = 1 CAD
Ghanaian Cedis GHS 0.9741 = 1 CAD
Honduran Lempiras HNL 19.142 = 1 CAD
Hong Kong Dollars HKD 7.9076 = 1 CAD
Hungarian Forint HUF 178.67 = 1 CAD
Icelandic Krona ISK 64.226 = 1 CAD
Indian Rupees INR 39.841 = 1 CAD
Indonesian Rupiah IDR 9523.8 = 1 CAD
Israeli New Shekels ILS 3.9355 = 1 CAD
Jamaican Dollars JMD 71.86 = 1 CAD
Japanese Yen JPY 115.95 = 1 CAD
Jordanian Dinar JOD 0.7175 = 1 CAD
Kuwaiti Dinar KWD 0.2785 = 1 CAD
Lebanese Pound LBP 1531.8 = 1 CAD
Luxembourg Francs LUF 28.384 = 1 CAD
Malaysian Ringgit MYR 3.3841 = 1 CAD
Maltese Liros MTL 0.3023 = 1 CAD
Mexican Pesos MXN 10.955 = 1 CAD
Moroccan Dirham MAD 7.9618 = 1 CAD
New Zeland Dollars NZD 1.3208 = 1 CAD
Norwegian Kroner NOK 5.6306 = 1 CAD
Pakistani Rupees PKR 62.189 = 1 CAD
Panamanian Balboas PAB 1.0131 = 1 CAD
Peruvian New Soles PEN 3.0175 = 1 CAD
Philippines Pesos PHP 41.876
Polish Zloty PLN 2.5458 = 1 CAD
Romanian Leu RON 2.4501 = 1 CAD
Russian Rubles RUB 25.025 = 1 CAD
Saudi Arabian Riyal SAR 3.801 = 1 CAD
Singapore Dollars SGD 23.657 = 1 CAD
Slovakian Koruna SKK 23.657 = 1 CAD
South African Rand ZAR 7.0572 = 1 CAD
South Korean Won KRW 951.48 = 1 CAD
Special Drawing Rights XDR 0.6486 = 1 CAD
Sri Lankan Rupees LKR 110.01 = 1 CAD
Swedish Krona SEK 6.6711 = 1 CAD
Swiss Francs CHF 1.1721 = 1 CAD
Taiwanese Dollars TWD 32.949 = 1 CAD
Thai Baht THB 30.789 = 1 CAD
Trinidad & Tobago TTD 6.3532 = 1 CAD
Tunisian Dinars TND 1.2555 = 1 CAD
Turkish New Lira TRY 1.197 = 1 CAD
UA Emirates Dirham AED 3.7242 = 1 CAD
US Dollars USD 1.0131 = 1 CAD
Urguayan Pesos UYU 21.584 = 1 CAD
Venezuelan Bolivars VEB 2173.9 = 1 CAD
Zambian Kwacha ZMK 3875 = 1 CAD

Today’s exchange rates appear courtesy of the Bank of Canada about the Canadian Currency. Rates quoted are noon spot rates (Eastern Time) as determined by trades in the Toronto interbank market. For the currencies of Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain: please refer to the row Europe (Euro).

Confederation on July 1, 1867 brought changes to banking and currency legislation in the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Under the BNA Act, the federal government was given exclusive jurisdiction over currency trading and banking. Provincial notes issued in the Province of Canada were renamed “dominion notes” and were made redeemable in Halifax and Saint John in addition to Montreal and Toronto. The Dominion Notes Act was extended to cover Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, and British Columbia in 1876 and the Northwest Territories in 1886.

On August 3, 1914, an emergency meeting was held in Ottawa between the government and the Canadian Bankers Association to discuss the currency crisis. An Order-in-Council was issued that provided protection for banks that were threatened by insolvency by making notes issued by the banks legal tender. This allowed the banks to meet their depositor demands with their own bank notes rather than with dominion notes or gold. The government also increased the amount of notes that banks were legally permitted to issue. The government was also allowed to make advances to banks by issuing dominion notes against securities deposited with the minister of finance.

Public hearings began on August 8, 1933, and the final report was given to the government less than seven weeks later on September 28. While the commission voted in favor of the establishment of a central bank, its conclusion was never really in doubt. The two British members of the committee, joined by Brownlee, voted in favor of a central bank, a position supported by both the Conservative government and the Liberal opposition.

White dissented from the majority on the grounds that it was unwise to establish a central bank in the prevailing uncertain economic environment. In their view, a newly established and untried central bank might hinder the government. Favoring a return to the gold standard, White contended that Canada’s main problem was excessive debt. Leman shared this view and also believed that the establishment of a central bank raised constitutional issues that needed exploring.

As a member of the International Monetary Fund, Canada’s decision to float the Canadian dollar was at odds with its commitment to the Fund to maintain a fixed exchange rate within the Bretton Woods system. In this regard, in 1949 the Canadian authorities had established with the IMF a “par value” of US$0.9091 with a fluctuation band of per cent. At least initially, floating was viewed as a temporary state of affairs. The minister of finance noted the government’s intention to remain in consultation with the Fund and it would be almost 12 years before Canada reintroduced a fixed exchange rate and regained the good graces of the IMF. Consequently, Canada came to be viewed as something of a maverick in international financial circles. The unwillingness to re-fix the exchange rate appears to have reflected concern about repeating the mistake of 1946 when the dollar was revalued upwards only to come under significant downward pressure the next year, followed by a devaluation in 1949.

After quickly rising to the $0.95 USD level immediately after the exchange rate was freed, the Canadian dollar slowly appreciated, moving to a small premium of about 2 per cent vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar by 1952. From then until the end of 1960, it traded in a relatively narrow range between US$1.02 and US$1.06. The peak for the Canadian dollar during this period was US$1.0614, touched on 20 August 1957. Foreign exchange intervention by the Bank of Canada through the Exchange Fund Account was limited to smoothing short-run fluctuations of the Canadian dollar.

Weakness in the currency began to emerge in 1997 and became increasingly apparent in 1998 despite strong economic fundamentals–very low inflation, moderate economic growth, and solid government finances. Much of the slide in the currency could be attributed to lower commodity prices, which began to soften in the summer of 1997 but weakened significantly as the financial and economic crisis in emerging markets widened and intensified. The large negative interest rate differentials that had earlier opened up between Canadian and U.S. financial instruments also weighed against the Canadian dollar, as did the U.S. dollar’s role as a safe-haven currency during times of international crisis. The Canadian dollar touched an all-time low of US$0.6311 on August 27, 1998 before recovering somewhat following aggressive action by the Bank of Canada. Interest rate reductions by the Federal Reserve Bank and the return of a modicum of stability in financial markets permitted the Bank of Canada to reduce Canadian interest rates without undermining confidence in the Canadian dollar. The currency closed the year at US$0.6522.

This history of the Canadian dollar has been largely descriptive. Nonetheless, conclusions can be drawn from examining the past. Although Canada has tried most major types of exchange rate regime, it has generally favored a flexible exchange rate system through much of the twentieth century. This has reflected three factors: Canada’s role as a major commodity producer and exporter; the high degree of capital mobility, especially between Canada and the United States; and a desire to direct macroeconomic policy towards achieving domestic objectives. In this regard, concern about importing inflation from the United States led to the upward revaluation of the Canadian dollar in 1946 during the holocaust timeline and to the floating of the Canadian currency in both 1950 and 1970. To present day the Canadian Dollar has greatly appreciated and sits near par on Christmas 2007.

Generally at the Gas bar you get like 15 cents from filling a tank, but you can get a coupon from the store that multiplies that by anywhere from 5 to 12 times. It can really add up. Sometimes you get ‘actual’ paper money from the store or gas bar, but mine stores on my Credit Card. I always buy my gas at the Canadian Tire Gas Bar so that I can get the money.

I personally use a Canadian Tire credit card which stores my balance automatically, it also automatically applies a multiplier to my gas bar purchases. When I use my credit card at other stores I still get some Canadian Tire money, like 1% or 2% of my purchases. Right now I have like $96 bucks built up on my card.

Canadian Tire money can only be used at the Canadian Tire store, although I’ve heard you can actually pay tuition at Memorial University in Newfoundland with it. You can’t use Canadian Tire money at the Gas Bar or at regular stores although I have seen people selling it on ebay for real money.

Someday I might actually spend all the Canadian Tire Money I have saved. I’m thinking I might wait until I buy I house and use my money I’ve saved to help furnish it. It’s kind of a waste to hang onto though I guess as it doesn’t earn interest so I guess I lose some value to inflation every year. Maybe one of these days we’ll have a recession and it will become more valuable.

The Mint prints all the money for Canada as directed by the Bank of Canada, which is loosely and unofficially controlled by the Federal government under it’s section 92 (of the Constitution) powers. The mint then issues currency to the major banks as a ‘loan’. There are four major banks in Canada, The Royal Bank, Scotia Bank, The Bank of Montreal, and The Toronto Dominion Bank.

When the mint prints money it is called ‘expanding’ the currency. This means that there is more actual money, but in theory at least it should all be worth the same amount. This is because money has value based on the ‘reserves’ of Canada. That is the resources of Canada and the foreign currency holdings of Canada.

The mint produces typically coins with values of 0.01 (pennies), 0.05 (nickels), 0.1 (dimes), 0.25 (quarters), (dollars), and 2 (twoonies). The balls that are made are 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 dominations. $1000 bills are also made but are less usual. Quarters are often made for special commemorative occasions. I have a set of quarters up in my closet with each one representing a province, and a dollar for the federal government.