Canadian dollar (C$)

The Canadian dollar affectionately called the 'loonie' for the loon that appears on the currency, had been increasing once again in value against its U.S. counterpart. It reached its highest value in over 16 years during the summer of 2007. Because of the trade orientation of the economy, the currency's value impacts the industrial and raw material price indexes as well as the value of the country's trade surplus. The Canadian dollar stabilized around parity with its U.S. counterpart but then weakened as the worldwide recession set in. The currency climbed in value against the U.S. dollar in 2011 and continued to hover just above parity in 2012 and at parity at the beginning of 2013. The C$ declined below parity and has remained there since August 2013. The currency weakened again in September, October, November and once again in December, but that was primarily because of the rally in the U.S. currency. It sank in January 2015 but recovered slightly in February only to retreat again in March. The loonie rallied in April only to sink back in May. The currency retreated again in May but was unchanged from the May level in June.