Currency – Canadian Dollar

Officially it's "the Canadian Dollar," but you can call it the "loonie" (because of the loon depicted on our one-dollar coin). The two-dollar coin is a "toonie," of course.

Many venues accept American dollars, but you're likely to get a better exchange rate by simply using your bank card to withdraw Canadian cash from an ATM. The loonie generally trades a little lower than the greenback, but check exchange rates for current information.

Taxes

A 5% Goods and Services Tax (GST) is applied to most purchases including restaurant meals, transportation, lodging, and admissions. Additionally, a 4% lodging tax is applied to rooms. On the bright side, Alberta is the only province without a provincial sales tax. We don't believe in that stuff.



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