How to order Canadian Dollars
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Order your Canadian Dollars online with our click & collect currency service. Choose your collection date and pick up from your selected M&S store’s bureau de change.
Click & collect Canadian Dollars in as little as 60 seconds.*
*Subject to availability.
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Or visit a participating M&S store to buy Canadian Dollars. With stores nationwide - many open seven days a week and late into the evening - you can buy your Travel Money at a time that suits you.
Why buy Canadian Dollars from M&S Travel Money?
Planning an adventure out-west? Get ready for cross-country travels, vibrant city breaks and everything in between with M&S Travel Money, the easy way to get your Canadian Dollars.
- Stores open 7 days a week.**
- A choice of collection options.
- Over 50 currencies avaliable in selected stores.
**Store opening hours vary.
What you need to know about the Canadian Dollar
The Canadian currency is the Canadian Dollar. Because of the country's historic ties to the UK, the British monarch features on the coins and banknotes, which makes the currency look quite familiar when converting Pounds to Canadian Dollars.
The currency code for the Canadian Dollar is CAD. There are 100 cents in a Dollar, and you'll see prices written using the Dollar sign $.
Canadian coins feature images of wildlife, with a $1 coin showing a picture of the native Loon bird and $2 coins showing a polar bear. Luckily, real polar bears are confined to the very far north, although if you're lucky you might spot black, brown or grizzly bears in the wild in some western provinces.
Canadian currency comes in both coins and banknotes.
Coins include:
5, 10, 20, and 50 cents, CAD1, CAD2
Banknotes include:
CAD5, CAD10, CAD20, CAD50, CAD100
You can buy Canadian Dollars online using our click & collect service.
Guide to Canada
Canada's natural landscape is world-famous, and for good reason. It's a vast country, from the snow-capped mountains and forested wilderness of British Columbia, through the prairies of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, to the stormy eastern seaboard of Nova Scotia.
Canada has something for everyone and is a friendly, welcoming place to visit, with safe cities and a high quality of life. Outdoor and winter sports enthusiasts are spoilt for choice - the mountains in the west have some of the best skiing in the world, where it's not unusual to see over a metre of snowfall overnight; there’s outdoor skating all winter-long, and in the summer crystal lakes await kayakers and breathtaking trails draw hikers.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you'll be able to use your credit or debit cards to draw out cash or make payments in most places throughout Canada, but you should travel with cash, too.
If you pay with cards, your bank or card provider might charge international transaction fees or currency exchange fees, so be sure to have cash available to avoid unnecessary expense.
One thing that can catch you out in Canada is needing to add sales tax to the prices you see displayed on menus or price tags. The sales tax varies by province but is typically around 15%, so a meal costing $17CAD would in fact cost $19.55CAD after adding the 15% sales tax. On top of this, you may then need to add a tip (where appropriate).
Prices in Canada for food and drink tend to be a little higher than in the UK. Before tax, you can expect to pay around:
- $2.11 CAD (around £1.17) for a bottle of water.
- $4.79 CAD (around £2.65) for a coffee.
- $90 CAD (around £50) for a mid-range meal for two people.
The short answer is, no. You'll need to make sure you have Canadian Dollars with you for most transactions in Canada, though in places very close to the US border, like Niagara Falls, some larger hotels and businesses might also accept US Dollars. But don't rely on this being the case.
It's relatively easy to visit Canada as a tourist from the UK on a British passport. You'll need either a visa or an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA).
For stays of under 6 months, you won't normally need a visa, just an eTA. You should always research the most up to date visa guidelines before planning a trip.
Tipping is very common in Canada. In fact, failing to tip is considered rude in most restaurants and bars. You'll be expected to tip between 15-20% for table service, and also when buying drinks at a bar, so make sure you have some Travel Money before you travel.
There are two main languages in Canada, English and French. French is the primary language in the province of Quebec, but elsewhere most Canadians will speak English as a first language.
You can expect to find many more languages spoken in communities across culturally diverse cities like Vancouver and Toronto, and a multitude of indigenous languages are still spoken in Canada.
Canada is generally a safe place to visit, despite seeing an increase in wildfires in some areas over recent years.
It's always worth checking online for the latest travel advice from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office for any updates before you travel, just to be sure.
The best time of year to visit Canada depends a lot on how hot or cold you'd like your trip to be. Temperatures in winter can stay below freezing for much of the season, with snow on the ground for many months in places.
If winter sports like skiing and skating aren’t your thing, there's plenty to do in the mountains in summer too, where mountain biking, hiking, paddle boarding and cycling come into their own.
Summer sees the most visitors, with events like the Calgary Stampede and Montreal Jazz Festival attracting huge crowds. Autumn is quieter and cooler, but with stunning colour across the trees of the national parks, this can also be a wonderful time to visit.
Ready to visit Canada? Check the latest GDP to Canadian Dollar exchange rate and order your Travel Money today.
Other popular currencies
If you’re planning a future holiday or a trip that takes in multiple destinations, these other currencies may be useful: