Based on prior history and experience it is quite unusual for the Canadian dollar to be worth anything more than 89 cents US. Like most other resource rich countries, it is in the best interest of Canadian businesses exporting goods to keep the dollar low. Exporting drives a huge part of the economy, too much for it to ignored by the Central Bank of Canada and the government. When the Canadian dollar was par with the US dollar recently, consumers close to border towns were in their glory. Cross border shopping was very popular because the savings were worth the hassle of getting across, purchasing and importing US autos was especially popular. However it did little to improve the work lives of those in manufacturing, auto and export businesses (including many others).
