The Canadian dollar has been performing exceptionally well over the past several months, rising to a 47-year high of $1.05US recently. I'm feeling old remembering the days when it was $0.65US - not so long ago!

This should be great news for us Canadians, and we certainly are able to stock up on great deals from American retailers, both online and at brick-and-mortar stores if you're lucky enough to live close to the border. However, for some reason (and the blame is flying in all directions) the prices at Canadian retailers have not nearly adjusted for the stronger dollar.

For example: The Canon Digital Rebel XTi camera body (of course I'm going to use a photography example!) is $725.70 online at Camera Canada. The same camera is $585US at Beach Camera. That's $557 Cdn, for a difference of $168.70, or 30% more at the Canadian retailer. The Powershot S5IS? $483.80 at Camera Canada and $341.90Cdn at Beach for a difference of $141.90 or 42% higher at Camera Canada. Yes, shipping would likely be a little more from the States, but there is no duty on electronic devices as long as they are marked correctly, so why in the world would you choose to pay 40% more just to buy in Canada?

Like I said, everyone seems to be blaming everyone else for this problem - retailers, suppliers, government. I don't really care whose fault it is so much as I hope someone can fix it - both for my sake wanting to save money on the things I buy every day, and for the sake of Canadian retailers who will and are losing business to American companies as we're heading into the busy Christmas season.