USDCAD definition

USD/CAD is the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Canadian dollar, showing how many Canadian dollars one US dollar will buy. It is a major pair, making up about 5.3% of the roughly $9.6 trillion that changes hands in the global forex market each day (BIS Triennial Survey, 2025), so it trades with deep liquidity and tight spreads. It is nicknamed the "Loonie", after the bird on Canada's one-dollar coin.

The US dollar is the base currency and the Canadian dollar the quote currency, so a quote of 1.3600 means one US dollar is worth 1.3600 Canadian dollars. A rising price means the US dollar is strengthening against the Canadian dollar, a falling price the reverse. You trade USD/CAD as a forex CFD, taking a position on the price rather than holding Canadian dollars outright: go long if you expect the US dollar to rise, short if you expect it to fall. Pips sit at the fourth decimal place, and your profit or loss is the pips gained or lost times your position size, settled in Canadian dollars.

Crude oil is the swing factor here. Canada is a major oil exporter, so a rising oil price tends to strengthen the Canadian dollar and push USD/CAD down, while falling oil does the opposite. On top of that, the pair tracks the rate gap between the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve and reacts to US economic data, given how closely the two economies are tied through trade.