iBlog - Ilia Alshanetsky

I always thought of Canada being an progressive country with ties to various economic markets that make it easier for it's citizens to engage in cross-border commerce. Alas this seems to be only true when dealing with our neighbor to the south, the US. In preparation to my upcoming trip to Netherlands I went to my bank to get some (small amount) of Euros. However, after speaking to the teller and the bank manager I quickly found out that my home branch does not carry any foreign currency other then US dollars. Calls from the branch to other nearby branches of my own bank as well as other banks have yielded the same response, "no Euros". So, how can I get some Euros? Well, I have to order them and wait no less then 5 business days, before getting my hands on this rather unusual currency. The explanation for the delay that Canadian banks often do not have any currency on hand and need to go to currency exchange house to buy the currency themselves, unless someone miraculously decides to trade in their Euros for Canadian Pecos.
More over I cannot choose what denomination of bills will I get, meaning that they could easily give me 2 $100 bills or 20 $10 etc... which is not an ideal situation while traveling. In my experience most small stores will refuse to accept large bills for fear of forgery, meaning that I am likely to be in a situation where I need to exchange my bills for something more portable upon arrival.
Keep in mind that this is happening in Toronto, Canada's largest city by far, not some small backwater village in the middle of nowhere, where perhaps no one had even heard of Euros. It seems that there is no requirement that even small quantities of foreign currency be kept on hand in the unlikely event a Canadian would decide to travel to a country other then the US.