onthegogo

A little 'off topic' in a way, but...just wanted to say that we were up in Calgary and Banff for a little more than a week. It was nice, but amazing just how expensive things are there. I don't mean because of the exchange rate of US$ which was at par, but things seems to just basically cost more. Maybe its taxes added on to pay for health care, etc. Eg. stayed with a family member and bought some Starbucks ground coffee for them from supermarket...8oz for $8.00 vs. 12 oz. for about same price in US. Bought some pizzas....a 12" for $20 vs 16" for about $14 here at home. Fruit, dining out, groceries, gas, beer, wine, etc. all very expensive. Clothing in stores...same brands as here (eg. jeans)..at least twice as expensive. No wonder they were talking about how great it is now to visit US and buy 'stuff' including cars. Aside from seeing some nice scenery, etc.....thought this was interesting. Noticed too that in Jasper, Banff, etc. - there were only 1 or 2 other cars with US license plates...think tourism is down. Had a great time though!

toedtoes

I think it depends on where you're coming from and where you're going to.

I was recently in Toronto and Montreal and found the prices comparable to here at home in California. Ottawa seemed slightly lower. Niagara Falls was priced similar to Pier 39 in San Francisco.

I guess it's all relative.

Gavin

This does not explain everything but remember that Alberta's economy is booming because of oil developments. There are serious labour shortages in many areas. In addition mountains everywhere tend to be expensive.

kodi

Yes, generally speaking, we do pay more. Apparently 20% more for the same items.
We pay more at stores like the Gap or Old Navy. ..more for greeting cards and magazines.. an so much more...cars.. electronics... on and on.

toedtoes

Maybe that's why I don't notice a difference. I rarely walk into a U.S. based store when I'm in Canada. I stick with Canadian chains and independent stores.

kodi

But don't ya know, we love your stuff!!!!!

ShelliDawn

There's not only the "normal" price increase that all Canadians see, but you also visited two places that are pricey compared to the rest of Canada.

Banff is always more expensive being a giant tourist trap.

Calgary is more expensive right now because our economy is "booming" due to the oil patch. There was a story on the news a few months back where they compared the price of things in Calgary to other major cities and we were by far more pricey. If I recall correctly, one of the comparison items was Starbucks coffee and ours (Calgary) was substantially higher than anywhere else in the country.

Borealis

You have to factor in the cost of transporation of goods to areas where the market is small (fewer shoppers) than in most parts of the US. Canada's population is only 10% of the US.

As well, the Cdn dollar has recently risen to be at par with the US, but for may years was hovering around 70 cents to the US dollar, and many goods may have been purchased at that excahnge rate. The worst rip-off recently is the price of books (which have both the US price and the Canadian price printed on the back cover so one knows exactly how much more one is paying).

In addition, any tourist area such as Banff are always much more expensive. They have a captive market. Not too long ago, when I was still using negative print film instead of a digital camera, I would stock up on film before leaving home because I knew that it would cost me up to 50% more to purchase film in Banff, and "home" is only 400 km (250 miles) away from Banff!!!

By the way, we were in Banff just a few days ago, and even though it is almost the end of September, we saw US licence plates from places such as Washington, California, Missouri, Utah, New Mexico, Michigan, Texas, Delaware, Idaho, and the one that always amazes me because it is so far to drive - Florida!! (just in case you are wondering how we noticed and remembered - my husband and I have a game we play when we're on the road to see who will spot the the licence plate from the furthest away !!)

carrom

We also found Canada pricey coming from Italy. Especially wine (local) and bottled water!

Gavin

Carrom, for the high wine prices we can thank high taxes on alcoholic beverages. About the water I have never noticed because I, like most Canadians, normally drink tap water unless we are travelling to a place where the tap water is unsafe.

ontariotraveller

Travelling in Canada is a lot more expensive than travelling in the states. My family of 6 has spent the last 2 summers travelling Canada (we live in Ontario) Last summer we toured the west coast (BC & Alberta) and this summer the east coast (NS, PEI, NB). Now we also go south every winter and let me tell you, we could take 2 trips south to every 1 trip in Canada.

Our food and lodging are more expensive and car rentals are unreal. I am not sure why - maybe it is the taxes and maybe it is because they know you are vacationing and are willing to spend the money.

I think with the dollar at par our tourism industry here in Canada is in big trouble.

Brahmama

We had a 2 week stay in September 06 - Rocky Mts including Jasper, Calgary, Banff, etc. It was the most expensive vacation per day we have ever taken. (I translate everything into USD so we can compare apples to apples).

We stayed in B&B's, and a homestay in Jasper, and had a lot of picnics!

However, it was one of the most beautiful places we had ever been and it was worth every penny and we hope to return.

We are Bigtime Budget Travelers - out of necessity, but we still are seeing wonderful places on our limited pensions. It can be done.

Micheline

I live in Ottawa in Summer and Boca Raton in Winter. Fruit and vegetables cost a lot more in Florida (go figure)but clothing is less quite a bit less. I find bottled water is less expensive in Ottawa. Today I bought 30 bottles for $3.00 on special (usually $5.00).

Hobosinlovemedia_com

I've lived in several different places in Canada, from Southern Ontario (very inexpensive) to Calgary (expensive) to Vancouver (could it get much worse?) to Yukon (ouch!!) I can't imagine what Northwest Territories or Nunavut would be like. Although with all that beauty and virtually no other tourists, I'll pay the premium. Cheers, Alie http://hobosinlovemedia.com

annieO

I was born in Alberta and now live in Utah. Through our visits over the years, we have noticed prices going up in Alberta. Calgary is the worst but things are also more in the smaller cities than the US. Years ago when my girls were teenagers, they loved to do their school shopping up there but now the price of clothes is so much higher that we buy clothes at home. After talking to my relatives, I found out that most jobs pay more than in the US. That's good. They need all the $ they can get to keep up with the cost of living.

umngmc

i grew up in winnipeg, manitoba and i now live in vancouver, BC. i've also lived in st. louis, MO and houston, TX. since moving to vancouver, i head down to seattle quite regularly.

there is NO DOUBT in my mind that stuff in canada is more expensive. if you look at very basic items that make up the CPI index like milk, eggs, GAS, canada is more expensive. even meat like beef and chicken breasts are really expensive! i try and hit up trader joe's every opportunity i get when i head down to seattle. i have a friend who lives near the border who buys his groceries in the states because it's so much cheaper.