Foreign-currency charges in Canada: the exchange rate plus the conversion charge, how to compare an offered rate, and the checks to run before you pay.
Applies in: across Canada
A foreign-currency payment is rarely one charge. It is an exchange rate plus a conversion charge, set and disclosed in different places: the rate in the offer or transaction, and the percentage in the card or account agreement. This guide covers travel, shopping, and online purchases from Canada. It was checked November 4, 2026, against the FCAC, Bank of Canada, Tangerine, Visa, and Mastercard pages in Sources. It ranks nothing, recommends no card or account, and states a check instead of a figure where a verified page is silent.
Outside Canada, a financial institution applies an exchange rate and a foreign currency conversion charge, according to Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, How credit cards work. The conversion charge is applied after converting to Canadian dollars, on the same page. The percentage is therefore charged on the converted Canadian-dollar amount, not on the foreign-currency amount before conversion, on the same page.
Institutions do not all calculate the conversion the same way. Some convert directly to Canadian dollars, and some convert to United States dollars and then to Canadian dollars, according to Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, How credit cards work. Your own agreement governs which calculation applies.
The FCAC worked example shows the arithmetic with an example agreement figure: 1,000 euros at 1.45 converts to 1,450 Canadian dollars, and a 2.5% conversion rate shown in the agreement is then added, for 1,486.25 Canadian dollars, according to Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, How credit cards work. That is 1,450 plus 36.25, which is 1,486.25. The 2.5% is only the FCAC example agreement figure, never the rate for every card. Do not copy it into a total for a different card.
A refund follows a different date from the purchase. Returning an item bought in foreign currency may produce a refund that differs from the purchase amount, because the rate varies day to day, according to Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, How credit cards work. The refund-date rate is part of the cost of a purchase that might be returned, and it cannot be known from the purchase-date rate alone.
The Bank of Canada publishes a daily table of Canadian dollars per unit of foreign currency, according to Bank of Canada, Daily exchange rates. It is a dated reference for comparing an offered rate. It is not, on the page checked, a buy or sell quote for any provider, and this guide states no claim that banks use the table.
The latest column checked on November 4, 2026, is 2026-11-03: United States dollar 1.3994, European euro 1.5661, and UK pound sterling 1.8779, according to Bank of Canada, Daily exchange rates. This guide states no November 4 rate, because no November 4 column was in the table checked. On a later day, use the table column for that comparison date, checked that day, not the November 3 values carried forward.
To compare, take the offered rate for the same currency and the same date, and compare it with the table value for that currency and that date, according to Bank of Canada, Daily exchange rates. The difference for the same date is the spread on that comparison. Comparing dates mixes two daily values.
The table covers the rate part only, not the conversion percentage, any ATM or operator fee, or any merchant surcharge in sections 3, 5, and 6. Where a counter displays a buy rate and a sell rate, compare each rate separately with the table value for the same date, and confirm separately whether a service fee applies on top. Where no fee is stated, it stays a check, not an assumed zero. Where the offered rate has no date, confirm its date before comparing it with a dated column.
The FCAC example information box states Foreign Currency Conversion 2.50%: charged in Canadian currency for transactions in foreign currency, converted directly to Canadian dollars at the exchange rate in effect at posting, plus 2.50% for each foreign-currency transaction, according to Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Application form for a credit card. That is example form wording. Read your own information box and agreement for your rate, path, and rate date.
The example box and the FCAC explanation do not state one calculation for every institution. Some convert directly to Canadian dollars and some convert to United States dollars and then to Canadian dollars, according to Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, How credit cards work. The example box states direct conversion at the rate in effect at posting, according to Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Application form for a credit card. Check both points, path and rate date, on your own agreement.
Credit and debit charges must not be mixed. The Tangerine figure is a chequing figure only: a foreign currency conversion fee of 2.50% added to the exchange rate, reflected in the converted Canadian dollar amount, according to Tangerine, Chequing Account Benefits. Never present it as a credit-card rate. Check a credit-card charge on the credit-card agreement, and a chequing charge on the chequing fee schedule.
A United States dollar credit card has a narrow scope. It may work for a person who often purchases goods or services in United States dollars, and that person may avoid having to pay foreign currency conversion rates, according to Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Choosing a credit card. That covers United States dollar purchases only, with no claim here about any other currency. Foreign currency charges are listed among other fees on the same page. Check whether, and on what terms, the agreement removes the charge for United States dollar transactions.
A card described as having no foreign-transaction fee is still an agreement check, and no such card is named here. Read the information box and agreement for whether a conversion charge applies, how the rate is set, what counts as a foreign-currency transaction, and what other fees apply, according to Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Application form for a credit card and Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Choosing a credit card. Where the agreement is silent, the point stays a check with the issuer.
Online purchases from Canada follow the same currency rule. Because the example charge follows the transaction currency, a purchase priced in United States dollars is a foreign-currency transaction on that wording even when the buyer is in Canada, according to Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Application form for a credit card. This guide does not claim the FCAC page uses the word online for this charge. Check the transaction currency at checkout and the conversion terms in your own agreement.
A retailer or ATM offers to convert a transaction into the cardholder's home currency, and the offer includes an exchange rate and additional fees, according to Visa, Dynamic Currency Conversion Explained. The same display and choice requirements apply at a shop till and at an ATM. Decide on the figures shown then, not after the transaction.
Visa requires merchants and ATMs to clearly display the amount in the local currency and in the cardholder currency, with both symbols; the exchange rate used; and the additional fees or markup, according to Visa, Dynamic Currency Conversion Explained. All three must be visible before the choice; a display showing only the Canadian-dollar amount does not meet it.
Merchants and ATMs should give a choice to accept or decline, and must not choose on the cardholder behalf, according to Visa, Dynamic Currency Conversion Explained. They should not use font size or colour to influence the choice, on the same page. The choice is the cardholder's after considering the costs shown. This guide states no typical markup percentage and no claim that accepting is always more expensive, because no network figure for a typical markup was verified.
If the required details are not shown, or pressure is felt, Visa recommends declining and reporting the incident to the card issuer, according to Visa, Dynamic Currency Conversion Explained. Accepting or declining does not affect the ability to purchase or withdraw, on the same page.
If the merchant or ATM operator converts the transaction, Mastercard currency conversion rates will not apply, usually when the cardholder selects to pay in the card currency instead of the merchant or ATM currency, according to Mastercard, Mastercard Currency Converter. The converter tool provides Mastercard rates for cross-border purchases and ATM transactions. Its rates and amounts are indicative only and inclusive of the bank fee entered, the bank may or may not use Mastercard rates, and the bank may impose additional fees, on the same page. Rates are specific to the date and time the bank authorizes the transaction, generally the point of sale, otherwise the processing date and time, on the same page.
At an exchange counter, compare each displayed rate separately with the Bank of Canada table value for the same currency and the same date, using the table of Canadian dollars per unit of foreign currency, according to Bank of Canada, Daily exchange rates. The difference for the same date is the spread on that comparison, on the method in section 2. Confirm separately whether a service fee applies on top, and add it only where stated. Where none is stated, it stays a check, not an assumed zero.
At an ATM, the conversion route decides which rate applies. If the merchant or ATM operator converts the transaction, Mastercard currency conversion rates will not apply, for the reasons in section 4, according to Mastercard, Mastercard Currency Converter. Where an ATM offers conversion into the home currency, the Visa display and choice requirements in section 4 also apply.
The Tangerine chequing entries show an ATM fee and a conversion fee as separate table entries. Other ABM withdrawals worldwide, not through the Global ATM Alliance, cost 3 dollars, with free access to more than 3,500 Scotiabank ABMs and 44,000 ABMs worldwide through the Global ATM Alliance, according to Tangerine, Chequing Account Benefits. The same fee table states a 2.50% conversion fee added to the exchange rate, on the same page. Confirm on your own fee schedule whether both entries apply to the same withdrawal, and whether an operator fee applies on top. No other bank ATM fee figure is stated here, because none was verified.
A credit-card cash advance outside Canada is separate from a debit ATM withdrawal. Its fee is typically higher than in Canada, a conversion charge may also apply, interest runs from the date the money is taken until paid back in full, and there is no grace period, according to Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, How credit cards work. No cash-advance amount is stated, because none was verified. Check your own agreement for the fee, the conversion charge, and the interest terms, before taking the advance.
No single figure in this guide is the total. The rate, the conversion percentage, the ATM or operator fee, and any surcharge are set separately. Run each check below before paying. Where any check is unconfirmed, the total stays unconfirmed until answered in writing on the agreement, fee schedule, or display.
Outside Canada, a financial institution applies an exchange rate and a foreign currency conversion charge, applied after converting to Canadian dollars, according to [Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, How credit cards work](https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/credit-cards/credit-card-work.html). Some convert directly to Canadian dollars, and some convert to United States dollars and then to Canadian dollars, on the same page. The example is 1,000 euros at 1.45, which is 1,450 Canadian dollars, plus 2.5 percent shown in the agreement, for 1,486.25 Canadian dollars, on the same page.
No. The 2.50% in the FCAC example information box is example wording for a transaction in foreign currency converted directly to Canadian dollars at the exchange rate in effect at posting, plus 2.50% per transaction, according to [Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Application form for a credit card](https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/industry/bulletins/information-box-examples/application-form-credit-card.html). Read your own information box and agreement for your actual rate. The Tangerine 2.50% figure is a chequing figure only, according to [Tangerine, Chequing Account Benefits](https://www.tangerine.ca/en/personal/spend/chequing-account-benefits).
Compare the offered rate with the table value for the same currency and the same date, using the daily table of Canadian dollars per unit of foreign currency, according to [Bank of Canada, Daily exchange rates](https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/exchange/daily-exchange-rates/). The latest column checked on November 4, 2026 is 2026-11-03: United States dollar 1.3994, European euro 1.5661, and UK pound sterling 1.8779, on the same page. The difference for the same date is the spread on that comparison. This guide states no November 4 rate, and no claim that banks use the table.
A United States dollar credit card may work for a person who often purchases goods or services in United States dollars, and that person may avoid having to pay foreign currency conversion rates, according to [Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Choosing a credit card](https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/credit-cards/choose-credit-card.html). That statement covers United States dollar purchases only, and foreign currency charges are listed among other fees on the same page, so the agreement still governs. Because the example charge follows the transaction currency, a purchase priced in United States dollars is a foreign-currency transaction on that wording even when the buyer is in Canada, according to [Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Application form for a credit card](https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/industry/bulletins/information-box-examples/application-form-credit-card.html).
The choice is the cardholder's after considering the costs shown. This guide states no typical markup percentage and no claim that the offer is always more expensive. A retailer or ATM offers to convert a transaction into the cardholder's home currency, and the offer includes an exchange rate and additional fees, according to [Visa, Dynamic Currency Conversion Explained](https://www.visa.com.ph/travel-with-visa/dynamic-currency-conversion.html). Merchants and ATMs must clearly display the amount in the local currency and in the cardholder currency with both symbols, the exchange rate used, and the additional fees or markup, on the same page. They should give a choice to accept or decline, must not choose on the cardholder behalf, and should not use font size or colour to influence the choice, on the same page. If the details are not shown, or pressure is felt, Visa recommends declining and reporting the incident to the card issuer, on the same page. Accepting or declining does not affect the ability to purchase or withdraw, on the same page.
For a cash advance outside Canada, the fee is typically higher than in Canada, a conversion charge may also apply, interest runs from the date the money is taken until paid back in full, and there is no grace period, according to [Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, How credit cards work](https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/credit-cards/credit-card-work.html). For Tangerine chequing, other ABM withdrawals worldwide outside the Global ATM Alliance cost 3 dollars, with a 2.50% conversion fee added to the exchange rate, according to [Tangerine, Chequing Account Benefits](https://www.tangerine.ca/en/personal/spend/chequing-account-benefits). A refund may differ from the purchase amount because the rate varies day to day, so the refund-date rate applies, according to [Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, How credit cards work](https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/credit-cards/credit-card-work.html).
No figure beyond the cited pages was taken from a comparison article or snippet.