KEY POINTS:
Bob and Carrie Wright do not look like an invading force. Standing outside Macy's department store in New York, weighed down with shopping bags, they appear much like any other consumers in the Big Apple.
But the Wrights are visiting Canadians. These days in America that means they have whopping spending power that has reversed a traditional relationship where Canada has played second fiddle to its southern neighbour. "Everything is just so cheap for us. It's wonderful to feel that the boot is on the other foot," laughed Carrie.
They are not alone. An army of Canadian tourists, shoppers and companies is invading America in a mini-boom caused by a surge in the Canadian dollar and a collapse in the US currency.
They come to buy everything from second homes to the day's grocery shopping. It is a dramatic reversal in the love-hate relationship between the two countries. While America's "almighty greenback" ruled the world economy, the Canadians had to contend with the fact that their own dollar's nickname was the comical-sounding "loonie", coined after a native bird.
But no one is laughing any more. At least not in America. The Canadian dollar has reached virtual parity with the US dollar for the first time in more than three decades. In five years the loonie has surged by 62 per cent in value against the greenback.
As far as avian symbols of national pride go, the loonie is more than a match for the bald eagle.
The impact of this is being felt as far away as America's desert southwest. "They used to come and spend the least money. That is not true any more," said Kristi Mastrantuono, director of travel sales at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass resort in Arizona.
It started selling its US$300-a-night rooms through a Canadian airline last month. Almost overnight it sold 43 rooms to Canadians. The newcomers are not shy about their new wealth. "They are very proud of the fact," she said.
Certainly Canada has much to be proud of. Booms in China and India have created a huge demand for the raw materials that form the bedrock of its economy.
With careful economic management, Canada has racked up large budget surpluses. That is in marked contrast to the free-spending policies and huge deficits that have helped to propel the US currency into a weakening spiral.
Now the effects are being felt across America. In places such as Florida, estate agents are braced for an upsurge in second home sales as Canadian pensioners - known as snow birds because they prefer to winter in a warm climate - decide to buy.
Nor is it just individual Canadians who are cashing in. This month Toronto Dominion bank splashed out US$8.5 billion ($11.11 billion) to buy America's Commerce Bank.
But it is not all good news for Canada, or bad news for America.
The New York tourist board is now seeking to attract Canadian tourists and their loonies. "They should be spending that money here and then running back across that border, " said Chris Heywood, the director of public relations at the board.
But every loonie that flies south goes unspent in Canada, and the country has suddenly become an expensive destination for Americans, hitting the tourism industry.
The rise has also meant Canada's exports are now too expensive for the rest of the world to buy.
- Observer
