Do bars and restaurants take US currency?
Because of the parity between US dollars and CAD dollars, some restaurants and bars have stopped accepting American money because it actually costs them more to exchange it at the bank. If they do accept US currency, do not expect a great exchange rate. I would think that presently, some places may be taking US dollars at par, meaning that US$1.00 = CAD$1.00. However, that would be more as a courtesy to the American tourist. Don’t forget that you can use your American credit cards here (Visa, Mastercard, some places American Express) to pay for most restaurant, hotel, or car rental bills. You can also use your bank ATM card at most bank machines here in Montreal, as they are part of the Plus and/or Interac network. You take out the money in Canadian funds and your bank will withdraw that cash, doing the conversion automatically at that day’s exchange rate. Keep in mind that the bank ATM here may charge you a service fee of $1.00 to $3.50 for that “inter-bank transfer”.
