Are Americans benefiting off weak Canadian dollar?

With the plunging Canadian dollar, how do residents and American tourists feel about the exchange rate between the two countries?

Some Americans who travelled here to Canada over the holidays were able to enjoy an extra Christmas gift in the form of savings.

The Canadian dollar Thursday stood at $0.69 against the American dollar, delighting this American couple who came to Alberta to ski.

“It was at least a 30% discount,” Edward Huang told The Leader Spirit.

“With the currency exchange rate, we would love to come back even in the next few months.”

Travel Alberta explains the province is already outpacing other parts of the country when it comes to tourism.

It’s why some businesses hope they can capitalize on Canada’s lower dollar if Americans come here more often because of it.

“Any boost is welcome, of course, it’s not going to hurt our restaurant economy in general. We are quite competitive against the States right now because of the exchange rate,” said Olivier Reynaud, the owner of Rouge Restaurant in Calgary.

And it doesn’t seem like the current exchange rate is set to improve anytime soon according to Chetan Dave, an economics professor at the University of Alberta.

“A big reason for that is the productivity differential relative to the United States,” he said.

“We have a productivity crisis in this country and until the productivity crisis gets addressed we’re not going to see a substantial improvement in the Canadian dollar.”

While Canada’s lower dollar is increasing the cost for Canadians travelling down south before they even board their flights, that won’t stop them from having a good time.

“We are going to Hawaii, I will spend as much as I can, we are not going to the supermarket every day,” said Canadian Forster Mah.