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What we found was surprising. The best currency exchange rate available to Canadians is the use of a no foreign transaction fee credit card. It offers a near perfect foreign exchange rate. All you get charged is the foreign exchange rate for that day, set by Mastercard or Visa, which is based on the market rates as seen in Bloomberg, Reuters and the Central Banks. There is no additional foreign exchange fee. The worst places to exchange your money? The airport, hotels and your bank branch. Unfortunately, none of Canada’s largest credit card companies (RBC, TD, CIBC, BMO, Scotia, Capital One, Canadian Tire or PC Bank) offer a credit card without a foreign transaction fee. They all charge a foreign transaction fee of 2.5%, on top of the exchange rate set by Visa or Mastercard. They do the same for debit cards either when making a purchase at a U.S. retailer or from an ATM.