Ask anyone who works in Old Montreal and they'll tell you there's been something missing this summer – Americans.
With the U.S. Dollar closing at just under 95 cents Canadian on Wednesday, taking a trip to Montreal is a lot more expensive than it used to be for our neighbours to the south.
And those who rely on American tourist dollars in the summer are feeling it.
"It's very quiet this year," one calèche driver in Old Montreal told CTV Montreal's Rob Lurie. "Very quiet."
But while Canadians are losing out on the tourism front, there has been little evidence of the changing financial landscape in the retail world.
A trip to a local book store shows separate, higher prices for Canadians than Americans – even for a book entitled "Canadian History for Dummies."
The same principle applies in electronics and the automotive industry – even when it comes to cars assembled in Canada.
In grocery stores, prices for American foods have gone unaffected by the recent surge of the Loonie.
"I have no idea why it's not happening, and it is kind of aggravating for sure," one grocery shopper said.
Tony Esposito of the Esposito grocery store chain says the problem may be that the products are priced based on when they were produced.
"I think in canned goods, because it's not produced day to day, so we may be getting stock that's produced a month and half ago, so it's their cost at the time," he said.
But there's also another explanation, especially as it applies to the automobile industry.
"In some cases, they do choose to charge what the local market is willing to pay," said George Iny of the Automobile Protection Agency.
Christopher Ragan, a McGill University economics professor, says the belief is that retailers in Canada have less incentive than their American counterparts to keep prices lower.
"There's a lot of belief that the Canadian retail markets aren't as competitive as those in the U.S., and that lack of competition can be one reason why those price changes take a little while longer," he said.
Eventually, if the Loonie maintains its strength, prices should start dropping in the retail world. In the meantime, traveling to the U.S. or abroad has become much cheaper for Canadians, which is of little solace to those depending on tourist dollars at home.
