If from Philippines, what is the best currency to bring to Canada? Will it be USD or CAD? Is it better to exchange Philippine currency directly to CAD? Or better to exchange Philippine peso to USD and exchange USD to CAD upon arrival in Canada?
My experience has been that it's usually better to convert your home currency to CAD within your home country. Converting to USD and back to CAD may also work in some instances depending on the current arbitrage opportunities available for USD/CAD. However, since you are mainly on the "buy" side of the transaction, it's probably best to go for just one direct transaction i.e. Peso to CAD. Others may have other experiences/opinions.
My experience has been that it's usually better to convert your home currency to CAD within your home country. Converting to USD and back to CAD may also work in some instances depending on the current arbitrage opportunities available for USD/CAD. However, since you are mainly on the "buy" side of the transaction, it's probably best to go for just one direct transaction i.e. Peso to CAD. Others may have other experiences/opinions.
I agree, the less transactions you have to make to get to CAD the better, unless your exchange transactions cost nothing and there is a slight disparity between currency exchanges. Also if you are exchanging any significant amount be sure to pre-negotiate the rate of exchange and fees. And shop around, you might be surprised how much extra money you save.
