Rates for 23 June 2020

What these rates are, and what they are not

The figures on this page are reference rates. Central banks publish them once each business day so that businesses, accountants, researchers and the public have a single consistent number to work from. They are a snapshot of the mid-market rate at a set moment in the day, not a running quote.

They sit in the middle of the market

A mid-market rate is the midpoint between what buyers are offering and what sellers are asking at that moment. No retail customer transacts at the midpoint. When you buy foreign currency, the institution serving you takes a margin on either side of it, which is how the service is paid for. That margin is the difference between the number here and the number on your receipt.

They move once a day, not continuously

Interbank currency markets trade around the clock, but reference rates are fixed once and then published. The Bank of Canada sets its daily average rates once each business day and releases them by 16:30 Eastern. The number does not change again until the next business day. On a Saturday, a Sunday, or a public holiday, no rate is set at all, which is why the board on those days shows the most recent business day instead.

They are for information, not for dealing

The Bank of Canada states plainly that all of its exchange rates are indicative rates only, derived from averages of transaction prices and price quotes from financial institutions, and that they are released for statistical and analytical purposes rather than as a benchmark for executing foreign exchange trades. If you are settling a live transaction, your counterparty's quoted rate is the one that governs, not this one.

How to read the board

Each headline figure answers the question a Canadian is usually actually asking: how many Canadian dollars does the foreign currency buy. A US dollar figure of 1.3700 means one US dollar costs 1.37 Canadian dollars. The smaller line beneath each figure shows the same relationship the other way around, for when you need it in that direction.

Currencies worth a small fraction of a Canadian dollar are quoted per hundred units, which is the convention in any published rate table. The yen is the clearest case: quoting it singly would give a figure with two leading zeros that is accurate but impossible to read at a glance. The quantity being quoted is always printed beside the currency name, so a row reading 100 JPY is telling you the figure covers one hundred yen rather than one.

Looking up a rate for a past date

Historical rates come up more often than current ones for a lot of practical purposes. Filing a return that includes foreign income, settling an invoice that was issued weeks ago, reconciling a credit card statement from a trip, valuing an asset as at a particular day, or simply checking what something cost at the time.

The date selector at the top of this page reloads the entire board for any published business day. Each date has its own web address, so a particular day can be bookmarked, emailed to an accountant, or cited in a document.

Some practical cautions

• Pick the date the transaction actually occurred, not the date you are looking it up. For an invoice, that usually means the invoice date rather than the payment date, but confirm which one applies to your situation.
• If your date lands on a weekend or a holiday, there is no published rate for it. Most guidance directs you to the preceding business day, though this varies by purpose.
• Apply one source consistently across a whole filing or set of records. Mixing sources part way through is what tends to attract questions.
• For anything with tax or legal consequence, confirm with your accountant which rate source and which date convention applies to you. This page is a reference, not advice.

• May 2020
• April 2020
• March 2020
• February 2020
• January 2020
• December 2019

Common questions

Why is the rate here different from what my bank charged me?

Because this is the mid-market rate and your bank's rate includes a margin. On a retail currency purchase at a major Canadian bank, the spread is commonly between one and three percent, and a flat transaction fee may sit on top of it. Card networks apply their own rate, which is usually closer to mid-market, with the card issuer sometimes adding a foreign transaction fee separately.

Which is better, exchanging money here or at my destination?

It depends far more on the provider than the geography. Airport exchange counters carry the widest spreads in either country. A bank branch, a dedicated currency exchange business, or a low-margin card used at point of sale will all typically beat one. Comparing the offered rate against the mid-market figure on this page is the quickest way to see what you are being charged.

Do these rates include fees?

No. There is no fee embedded in a reference rate, which is precisely what makes it a useful yardstick. Any difference between the rate here and the one you are offered represents the provider's margin, their fee, or both.

Why does the board sometimes show yesterday's date?

Rates are published in the late afternoon. If you load this page earlier in the day, the current business day's rate may not have been set yet, so the most recent published day is shown. The date at the top of the board always states which day the figures belong to.