CAD Canadian Dollar
Buy and sell Canadian Dollars in Sydney
Loonie notes sold and bought back over our Level 2 counter, Suite 202A at 60 York Street, NSW 2000. 0% commission, a live rate in each direction, and Monday to Friday hours, 9:30am until 5pm. No account needed.
How to get your Canadian dollars
Rate first, lift second, notes in hand third.
Check today's CAD exchange rate
Start with the calculator above. It quotes the Canadian dollar in both directions, so you can see what your Australian money converts to and what returning notes are worth.
Visit our store
We sit upstairs in Suite 202A, Level 2, 60 York Street, NSW 2000, four minutes from Wynyard station; phone (02) 8014 4222 first if you would rather reserve the notes.
Get your cash
Nothing leaves the counter uncounted; payment is immediate, and the same window takes Canadian notes back when the trip is over.
Key information about the Canadian dollar
Polymer notes, a coin economy at the low end, and a new king arriving.
Canada's dollar answers to the nickname loonie, after the bird on its one-dollar coin. The Bank of Canada issues it, a dollar carries 100 cents, and it floats freely among the most heavily traded currencies, pushed around by oil prices and by the economy next door. Against the Australian dollar it has long hovered near parity.
Five polymer denominations circulate: C$5, C$10, C$20, C$50 and C$100, plastic since the Frontier series of 2011-13. The C$10 now comes as a vertical note built around Viola Desmond. A C$20 bearing King Charles was unveiled in September 2026 but does not reach tills until early 2027, so notes bought today still carry Queen Elizabeth II.
Canada is a long-haul trip, so buying Canadian dollars in Sydney tends to happen well before departure. The loonie is one of 22 currencies quoted on our York Street board. Walking in needs nothing but photo ID; ring ahead if you want a sum put by, and sell the remainder back at whatever the buy-back rate reads that day.
Canadian Dollar details
- Currency
- Canadian Dollar
- Code
- CAD
- Symbol
- C$
- Subunit
- 100 cents
- Central bank
- Bank of Canada
Canadian Dollar in use
- Banknotes
- C$5, C$10, C$20, C$50, C$100 - all polymer; the C$1 and C$2 became coins decades ago and, with the C$25, C$500 and C$1,000, lost legal tender status on 1 January 2021
- Coins
- 5c, 10c, 25c, 50c (rarely seen), C$1 loonie and C$2 toonie - the 1c penny left circulation in 2013, so a cash total is rounded up or down to the closest five cents
- Used in
- Canada
- Also used
- Nowhere else as an official currency, and no country pegs to it. Shops in some northern United States border towns will take Canadian notes, but on terms of their own rather than a market rate.
Fresh polymer notes are slippery and stick together, so count them twice at the counter. Nothing under C$5 exists as paper: the C$1 and C$2 are coins, and they build up in a pocket quickly.
Today's CAD exchange rate in Sydney
The same live AUD to CAD rate the calculator is running prices both tables: the top one turns Australian dollars into Canadian notes, the lower one turns Canadian notes back into Australian dollars at the counter.
Buying Canadian dollars in Sydney
A$1 = C$0.9696
Your A$ become Canadian notes.
- 0% commission applies, so the quoted rate is the total cost and nothing is layered on afterwards
- Payment at the counter is cash only for now, so bring Australian dollars with you
- C$20s and below are the useful sizes - Canada taps for almost everything, so cash mostly covers tips and small counters
Selling Canadian dollars back in Sydney
C$1 = A$0.9907
Loonies across the counter, Australian dollars back.
- The moment the count is agreed, your payment in Australian dollars is made
- A note has to be resaleable, so anything torn, taped or badly stained may be turned away
- Older paper Canadian notes still surface in drawers; the polymer C$5 to C$100 are the current issue travellers carry
Counter rates shift while markets are open, so treat these figures as a snapshot. The calculator's timestamp stands for this table as well, and the number quoted across the counter when the deal is done is the number that settles it.
What things cost in Canada
Guide prices for Toronto and Vancouver, where costs run highest; the prairies and the Atlantic provinces are gentler, and ski season lifts everything in the Rockies.
Canada travel money tips
One rule about the price you actually pay, and three worth packing.
The shelf price is never the final price
Canada advertises prices before tax, then adds it at the till: 5% GST alone in Alberta, 13% in Ontario, close to 15% in the Atlantic provinces. On a restaurant bill a tip prompt follows, and the terminal's suggestions now start around 18% and climb to 25%. Budget roughly a quarter above the menu number for a sit-down meal, and key in your own figure rather than accepting the default.
Things to see in Canada
Mountains, waterfalls and two very different city cultures, spread across six time zones - and a few loonies in a pocket for parking meters, ferries and trailhead coffee.
Why exchange Canadian dollars with us
Whether the loonies are for a trip ahead or a trip finished, one CBD counter handles both ways, registered and rated, on rates that update live.
0% commission, no fees on top
Every AUD to CAD exchange carries 0% commission. Nothing sits behind the rate: no fee for service, none for handling. Whatever quantity of Canadian dollars the calculator puts on screen is the quantity counted onto the counter.
Live, timestamped counter rates
Every Canadian dollar figure here is our own counter rate, not a mid-market quote. It is reset during trading hours as the pair moves, and shows the moment it was last changed.
Registered, reviewed, guaranteed
AUSTRAC registered, ABN 18 675 798 302, we are scored by 59 Google reviewers, and the Best Price Guarantee is a written undertaking.
Rated on Google by 59 customers
Every one of these was left on our Google profile by someone who came up to Level 2. We cannot edit them or take them down.
"Nice attention, customer service and good rate"
"Great people. Great rates. Great location. Sunil is the best."
"Thanks sunil. Great service and great rates"
"Pretty good rates, the place is clean and comfortable to wait in."
See what customers across Sydney say about our rates and service.
Read them all on Googlearrow_forwardCommon questions about Canadian dollars
Not covered below? (02) 8014 4222 reaches the counter on any weekday.
The calculator heading this page holds today's number, quoted twice over: once as the price of Canadian dollars, once as the amount paid for Canadian dollars handed back. Trading is continuous, so the figure is not fixed for the day, and the quote given across the counter is what governs your exchange.
Upstairs in Suite 202A, Level 2, 60 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000, with Wynyard station four minutes away on foot. The counter works weekdays only, 9:30am through to 5pm, with weekends and public holidays closed, and nothing needs booking - photo ID and the lift are enough. Prefer the notes waiting? Ring (02) 8014 4222 ahead.
Scroll to the buying column below and A$1,000 is already worked out for you, along with four other round amounts, at the selling rate currently on the board. Those figures refresh whenever the calculator does, so treat them as a moving guide, not a locked quote. The rate struck at the counter decides the actual payout.
No, and that holds in both directions. Canadian dollars carry 0% commission, and no separate service or handling charge is levied above the quoted rate. The figure struck at the counter covers the whole exchange: Australian dollars out for notes, or Australian dollars in for notes you return.
Normally, yes. Canadian dollars are asked for regularly among the 22 currencies we deal, so a walk-in visit is usually all it takes. Larger amounts and specific denomination mixes are worth a call to (02) 8014 4222 first, so the notes can be checked and set aside ahead of your visit.
C$20s carry the day-to-day load, backed by a handful of C$5s and C$10s for coffee, tips and market stalls. Larger notes suit a hotel desk more than a takeaway window. One thing that surprises Australians: Canada has no C$1 or C$2 note, so anything below C$5 comes back as loonies and toonies.
Yes. Hand them across the counter and the buying rate showing on the calculator applies. Condition is what matters, because notes we take go back into circulation with the next traveller: polymer survives a wash, but a torn, taped, heavily marked or crease-split note may be refused.
More than you might expect. Table service usually runs 18 to 20 per cent, and payment terminals often suggest 18, 20 or 25 per cent before you have thought about it; you can always key in your own figure. Remember sales tax is added on top of the menu price as well, so a listed meal ends up noticeably dearer.
Yes. Photo identification is part of the transaction in either direction. Australia treats currency exchange as a regulated designated service, and AML/CTF obligations require us to verify identity on certain transactions. Have it with you either way, and the counter visit stays short.
Need a different currency?
Canada is one of 22 currencies quoted at our counter; the full rate board sets out where every one of them sits today, in each direction.
