Canadian Travel - June 2008

[youbet]

Most summers, I head up to northern Ontario, near Red Lake, with a bunch of school chums to chase walleyes and drink Molson. Just received the annual holiday letter and updated 2008 brochure from the camp owner. Not unexpectedly, prices are up 9%. (They price in USD since almost all the customers are Americans.)

Due to the loonie/dollar exchange rate movements of the past few months, we'd actually expected an even bigger increase. The trip is already considerably more expensive than what we would spend staying in the northern USA due to the extra 300+ miles of driving, higher gas and food prices, etc. Tack a big rate increase on top of that and, well, it was just starting to look too expensive. But the 9% increase isn't so bad and now we're not sure what to do.......

Can anybody shed some light on other increases or gotchas we might see given the new exchange rates? We're expecting things to be less crowded with Americans than usual due to the higher prices, which would be a plus.

[Meadbh]

The governor of the Bank of Canada has recently said that he expects the Canadian dollar to settle at about 85 cents US.

Meanwhile, there is a flood of Canucks on shopping sprees in the US.

Some goods are priced higher than even the previous exchange rates could justify. e.g. Books. That became obvious when the dollars hit par. Lots of stores are now advertising reduced prices to attract customers.

[jambo101]

Plan-B from stateside of the river Fishing In The 1000 Islands

[youbet]

Well here's the whole sad tale (from my point of view!) behind the escalating cost of Canadian vacations/fishing trips...... The 9% increase for fishing camp accomodations the owner sent us is entirely explained by the exchange rate alone.

This would seem to work well for the owner as he snowbirds in Florida and owns a condo there. So, thanks to the exchange rate, he now gets more USD during the summer to spend in Florida in the winter.

Meadbh - Thanks for the info. Our biggest cost is our accomodation up there, followed by the food and beer bill (making the merchants in Red Lake happy!) and a tank of gas each way..... although if we're lucky on the return trip we sometimes just make it back across the border before needing to fill up. BTW, this trip involves four vehicles pulling boats and about a dozen guys.

jambo101 - I just looked at the website briefly. Are you suggesting this is a border area we could fish from the USA side? I accomplished something similar recently. A bush pilot on the US side flew us, our canoe and supplies into Canada (Quetico Provincial Park) and we paddled out for a week, camping along the way. Had remote border crossing permits with us, as required.

Thanks for the info.

[jambo101]

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbet jambo101 - I just looked at the website briefly. Are you suggesting this is a border area we could fish from the USA side? Thanks for the info.

Its the St Laurence river all the way to lake Ontario,North side is Ontario south side is New York state.

[BigBob]

Many of you probably already know this but passports are soon necessary to get back to the US as indicated by expedia (Expedia.com - Upgrade your browser and see the world):

Air travel: Passports are now required for all U.S. citizens traveling to or from any international destination via air, with the exception of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Land and sea travel: From January 31, 2008 to summer 2008, U.S. citizens traveling to or from the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico via land or sea ports must present a government-issued photo ID in addition to proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate. (A voter’s registration card and social security card are not considered to be proof of citizenship.) Children under the age of 16 do not require a government-issued photo ID.

Summer 2008 rules: Beginning as early as summer 2008, passports will be required for all U.S. citizens traveling to or from the United States via land, sea, and air—regardless of destination.

[mn54]

Not only is the exchange rate killing the U.S. tourist in Canada but the taxes will kill you too. You used to be able to stop at the border and get the PST and GST tax refunded to you. This is no longer the case. I believe they stopped doing this a couple years ago. It's good to hear that they predict the exchange rate to go back to $.85 Cand. to U.S..

[Martha]

How about going to Lake of the Woods, and staying on the US side? A lot of water there to explore.

Lake of the Woods - The Walleye Capital of the World

[RetireeRobert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mn54 Not only is the exchange rate killing the U.S. tourist in Canada but the taxes will kill you too. You used to be able to stop at the border and get the PST and GST tax refunded to you. This is no longer the case. I believe they stopped doing this a couple years ago. It's good to hear that they predict the exchange rate to go back to $.85 Cand. to U.S..

Or did he mean for one US dollar you would get 85 cents Canadian?

[Grizz]

You might consider buying your own fly in fishing camp in Canada. I'm told that there are lots of 'em and they are selling cheap. Wouldn't that be a cool way to spend the summers of your ER?

The downside to this great plan is that I've also heard that due to the Canadian dollar rising a lot of Americans are staying home. To make things worse, these operations are very heavily fuel dependant so of course the airplane trips and boat gas aren't getting any cheaper.