Seriously though, I’ve never traveled abroad and expected not to deal in th local currency. 
But the woman with the ATM machine is the funniest thing yet.
I’m trying to think of what size of till you would need to carry correct change for both Canadian AND American funds (let’s say enough to make change for a $7.99 item from a $50 dollar American bill) AND expect that all cash registers in a given store would have to have that kind of change (ie, four tills in our store) AND the floats kept track of by both the clerks and our book-keeper…
I think our book-keeper’s head would explode!!
I dunno, except for asking what the current rate of exchange is once and a while, I’ve yet to see a tourist here or in my former home town bat an eyelash over getting back Canadian change. I did however see one female tourist literally toss down the Canadian small change she got in Northen Drugs when I was up there, then walk out the door in a huff. That’s the kind of stupid-ass behaviour that gives the cruisers a bad name, IMHO.
Maybe someone should open up a small kiosk in Atlin Terminal and offer money changing services for a reasonable rate?
Well for one, I am pretty sure you can’t get American coin at any bank in Canada, you can only get bills, so giving exact change wouldn’t be possible. And if you are traveling to a different country, I think its reasonable to expect that the country you are in is not going to accept currency from every other country in the world, its not all that difficult to go to a bank or exchange center and get the currency of the current country you are visiting, and if you end up with a bunch of change from that country either get it exchanged back to your countries currency or save it for another trip. My family always saves American money that they don’t use in the States on one trip for another future trip. Many tourists will also expect to get an exchange rate on coins (US coins being an example) which is also not possible as the bank will only take American coins at par with Canadian coins regardless of the current exchange rate.
Ah! The money changers:
Got a bad name in the New Testament. Want to take a chance?
Hate to see whipping at the Atlin Terminal.
‘we know neither the day not the hour’! 
Well I personally heard it - so count me in that ‘few’ list of yours.
Bullshit - American businesses close to the Canadian border sure as hell don’t keep Canadian cash in their tills ‘just in case’. As was said already, Canadian money is the ONLY legal tender - it’s not like it’s impossible to change your currency at the bank when you get home after your trip. I’ve never complained about getting foreign currency when I’m in another country - even when the American dollar was worth the same or less than the Canadian dollar - so why should we just roll over when our neighbours to the south throw a tantrum?
It is ILLEGAL in Canada, to give back any currency other than Canadian Dollars.
American Coin is considered the same as Canadian Coin… there is no exchange on it at the bank… only bills. Maybe if you are doing a personal transaction (I’m not sure)… but with busineeses, a US quarter is worth the same as a Canadian quarter.
I’d like someone to find a fact somewhere that tells me there are more places in the US that accept Canadian currency, than places in Canada that accept US currency. Good luck finding one.
Photoguy hit it on the head with the POS (Point of Sale) comment… our machines are set up to calculate the exchange rate fairly, but because of legal reasons, the machines will never be set up to calculate the change given back in American Dollars, as well as EVERYONE would need bigger tills to make this work.
It would be a lot easier if everyone worked on the mom-and-pop cash registers where you set your own prices, then you could have the $100 US stashed under the till…but when you live in the age we do now… those tills are obsolete and non-functional… as well as a huuuuuge pain in the ass to ring multiple things in, collect data on inventory, and collect taxes!!
love to know what you do for a living for u to think that this idea is even possible in the remotest way. you can only exchange cdn money . its not as simple as keeping 100$ in US money or euros or whatever its what it is legal. store would probably get shut down by bank of canada for that. tourists should just deal with how things work in other countries. lets go to the arab countries with our women scantily clad and say but we wear our clothes like this back home lol. or ask for a steak and burger in mexico. 
Surprised they don’t have one of those already.
Most Rupertites are more ignorant than the cruise ship visitors - they just don’t know it.
When I lived in Langley in the 80s, we did a lot of cross border shopping in Washington State.
The dollar was as low as 69c. Some stores had twin drawers, one was Cdn. Your bill was converted to Cdn, your Cdn money taken and entered into the till, change was in Cdn currency.
Most simply did a conversion and you handed them that amount Cdn. You got US change.
Nobody gave exchange on coins, but many vending machines had signs that Cdn coins didn’t work.
At the time: Fraser Valley butter was 69c in Bellingham, $3.49 in Canada. Medium cheddar (Western Family - Alberta)was $2.99 for a 2 lb block in Bellingham, over $8 at home.
Many places took Cdn $$ at par when it rose to 80c. Just to attract the market.
One day we went to Sizzlers and I asked for HP sauce. The waitress was puzzled so I told her how we like the stronger HP instead of A1 in Canada. A month later we went to Sizzlers again with friends, and there was a bottle of HP at every table.
Last Saturday three German guys used the Net in our shop, when they said they had to dig thru the car for Cdn change, I told them if they had one single Euro for the coin collection, that was fine. They spent ten minutes showing me what the Euros looked like (a quarter sized toonie) and insisted I take a German one, a Dutch one and one from another country (explaining how each country has a different pic on one side).
They must have spread the word, as we’ve had dozens of Germans last week buying earbuds, SD cards, blank CDs etc. Most used Visa and some insisted on giving us a couple coins for our collection. Even an Aussie got into the spirit and added an AUS 20c (they don’t use quarters…) to the mix.
I love the summer when all these tourists and tree planters come in.
for those american tourists that want American Money back simple solution use your friggin credit cards or interac cards , simple easy and you don’t piss off the retailer for no reason
Credit cards are the easiest way to go… your bank deals with the conversion for you, and they give you the best rate possible.
Now that sounds like an ignorant comment to me.
My buddy and I love meeting and talking with all the cruise ship passengers who, and make a point of it every Thursday. We meet many wonderful Americans and people from other countries as well. Often when we part company they thank us and say that visiting us in Breakers was the highlight of their trip.
That’s real nice that you are visiting with the tourists and showing them how hospitable you are…thats awesome and I have on occasion had some fun with the tourists… now go shopping with one of them and see when they are given change, in Canadian money…they’re still making money with their dollar. I give 1.06% on US dollar
Geeeeeeeeeeez… the point here is there are " SOME " ( I say again ) tourists who show us what true ignorance is… really there are always a few, no matter where they are from, including us, that make it hard to be open minded about how some people act.
and those comments I told about:
does our flag come in any other colour…and there are alot of Mexicans up here…are true statements made by U.S. tourists… asking our staff…yup…
Jay Lenno’s " Jay Walking" segment from the tonight show…LOL …that was pretty funny to watch…Stupid people are funny…lmao
So what? You don’t tar everyone with the same brush because some tourists act in a callous or thoughtless manner. You are speaking about a small sub-set of the cruise ship passengers. As previously mentioned some rupertites are idiots as well.
I say we should make tourists feel welcome in our fair city. We need their business.
Worst kind of tourist where I live (Chicago):
Wahoo with Michigan plates driving 12 miles per hour up Lake Shore Drive admiring all the tall buildings
I did not * TAR * all the tourists… what I said was * some * tourists just don’t get it right when they travel… and I also said WE too are not exempt from ignorance…
just stating a fact, not refusing service to anyone who wants to spend money in town of course…smile and take the comments that follow… it’s that easy…
Go to Rupert mall, pick out 100 people at random, put them on cruise ship in Seattle - compare to American tourists in Rupert?