Canadians Riddle me THIS

Pablo

Pablo

Joined
Oct 28, 2002
Messages
59,915
Location
Everson WA - Pacific NW USA
A) First one is easy. What is the price difference, average, between USA and Canada, say the last six months or so. Ballpark is OK.

I am curious because the swampage of Bellingham Costco with Canadians. I mean I 100% get it if folks are heading to Seattle or points further south. Great place to tank up.

People with Canada plates are filling every fuel cannister known to humankind . Wow some ladies - well one lady I had to help her lift her 5 gallon can into her van. It must be worth the drive??

B) At Costco and many dairies, Edaleen for sure, Canadians buy a tanker worth of milk and all sorts of cheese products, tons of paneer. When I go to Canada I don't see milk products being super overpriced.

C) Can$ v. US$, seems like if I were Canadian, I would think USA purchases are just not worth it. Wife says both directions, we have stuff you don't have and Canada has stuff we don't have. I can see this when we shop in Canada malls (busy, our malls DEAD) - lots of cool clothes and things we don't have. Then again Vancouver and all the large suburbs make Bellingham and small county towns seem tiny teeny. And FWIW, the chow US$ for all kinds of good food in Canada is a huge bargain for us. Indian buffet said and done for under $20US for two? Well worth it.

Discuss.
 
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Some canadians aren't that great at math!, and lots of people like to get a "deal" while screwing the gov't out of some taxes... Every time I do the calculation of gas price here, and in the US with the exchange rate, its usually pretty close, but I live in an area with cheaper gas, and really cheap gas 15 miles away on the indian reserve. Vancouver gas prices near the core are eyewatering though!
I think our milk and cheese are maybe 25-35% more even with exchange rates factored, but we have a milk quota system that helps keep reasonable sized family farms in business, and they can afford to treat their animals well. Most countries without a quota system end up with huge farms owned by a corporation with dozens of poor employees. Around me most dairy farms have 1 or 2 employees with someone in the family working the farm full time.
We are winning on many tires and domestic vehicles though, with the exchange rate usually they are cheaper, as the $1k per set of tires barrier is a limit for a lot of people, in canada and the US, just our $1k is worth less!
We do pay a lot of tax on alcohol though! Which sometimes I think is bad, but then I guess I don't need to drink more than I do... So I guess the tax is working to keep me a bit healthier.
 
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Gassing up is a tradition and formally or not they don’t seem to care about groceries at the border. Cheese is a pretty high cost per lb because of our protective dairy concepts mentioned above and people can be sure they are getting a good deal. Normally you can bring a six pack of that watery beer back without a hassle. For everything else I find it’s just not worth it with the exchange rate, except if you spend two nights and can bring back a significant amount of duty free booze.
 
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Overall Canadians pay more for most products. The government thinks we are a bottomless pit of money to tax us. I'm in Ontario. I know gas prices in Vancouver are nuts. Last year at one point gas was over $2 a litre in Vancouver.

When people cross the border many plan on doing a lot of shopping. Even with the exchange rate, they will buy in the US. Better selection or prices. I'm sure the Costco's in WA are packed with Canadians every weekend.
 
Back when the exchange rates were very favorable for Canadians, I remember seeing a ton of BC plates at the mall and the garbage cans near the restrooms were full of old clothes. I guess customs doesn't charge import for the clothes on your back.
 
IndyIan said:
Some canadians aren't that great at math!
Click to expand...
QFT

We live near the US boarder and used to frequent WA state/Oregon for shopping etc.
Over the past few years, the cost of goods (groceries, clothes etc) in the US as in Canada have become equal (without taking conversion into consideration) .
Now we only go there to do other hikes/sightseeing we don't have in Canada.

I will agree about the Vancouver BC gas prices. They've regularly been quoted as being the highest in N. America.
Currently we are paying $5.05/ gallon for regular and $5.92/gallon for prem. according to https://usgas.ca/us
 
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Vancouver has the highest gasoline prices in Canada, and could be highest in North America. In SW Ontario Costco we have regular at $1.44 CAD per Litre and Premium at $1.55 CAD / L. Just went up $0.03 - 0.04 per L last week because of new Carbon laws.
 
ripcord said:
Back when the exchange rates were very favorable for Canadians, I remember seeing a ton of BC plates at the mall and the garbage cans near the restrooms were full of old clothes. I guess customs doesn't charge import for the clothes on your back.
Click to expand...

There are duties and a personal exemption based on length of time outside of Canada. Anything labeled as made in the US, Canada, or Mexico aren’t subject to duties when entering Canada. And certainly it’s possible for a Canadian to buy Canadian made goods in the US. Gas is a bit different (hard to prove the origin) and just wearing clothes is something that’s a bit tougher to figure out. At that point it might be considered used.

CBSA will have CBP info of when a Canadian entered the United States.

I’ve returned FROM Canada with just food and had no issues. It wasn’t much (spent less than $50). for two adults even for a trip less than 24 hours. But nothing was labeled per se, but I could have shown them the receipts. Entering Canada has never been difficult except for intrusive (but polite) questions,
 
KGMtech said:
Vancouver has the highest gasoline prices in Canada, and could be highest in North America. In SW Ontario Costco we have regular at $1.44 CAD per Litre and Premium at $1.55 CAD / L. Just went up $0.03 - 0.04 per L last week because of new Carbon laws.
Click to expand...

No way would be higher than some parts of Alaska. But that’s more about transportation costs to remote places, even though there are refineries in the lower part of Alaska.
 
It’s probably a habit left from post 2008 crash. Back then Canadian dollar almost reached parity for a while and then stayed pretty close to the US dollar for years.

My wife and I used to go to Buffalo probably twice a year shopping. I loaded up with automotive stuff and she with clothes, shoes for the kids and some food items that we couldn’t get in Canadian stores.

With todays exchange however, it make little sense to go to US specifically shopping. Gas price difference is still worth it, comparing Toronto prices, but for grocery items, I’m not so sure it’s worth it.
 
Gas/jet fuel is cheaper, that's why we tanker lots out of the u.s when flying back to Canada and the same when I drive there for cross-border shopping ( once a year ).
 
While it's fun to travel and shop for different goods, the stories above about numerous jugs of gasoline Canadians, or anybody else, load into cars are scary.
I'm not "Chicken Little-ing" this one.

Also, if a border guard smells gasoline fumes, he's gotta inspect.
All nations have regulations regarding transportation of fuels. Safety first.

We sure don't want BITOGers burning to death, or worse, lousing up traffic for everyone else (ha-ha).
 
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