This is a tip for Canadian travellers, especially from Vancouver. VBCE is a currency exchange with several locations in the Lower Mainland. They have the best rates with no commission. They beat the bank rate by about 2%. Yesterday, I bought some USD for an upcoming Hawaii trip. My Bank of Montreal was selling 1USD for CAD1.370. I walked across the street to VBCE and got a rate of 1USD for CAD1.344.
There are four chartered banks and a two credit unions very near Westminster Highway and No. 3 Road in Richmond. And there at least three money exhange places all within spitting distance of each other. The major banks seem more interested in high profits and consistently have the highest street rate. And if you want Euros, you have to order them a day ahead. Some currency exchanges will have a higher rate on the basis of location and convenience eg. inside the shopping mal or at the airportl. VBCE is the best of the bunch. I always thought you get the best rate at a bank. But if you shop around, you can find a better option.
The one downside is that this place is very busy. There are 4-5 tellers, but there are usually 10-20 people in line and about a 15 minute wait. The customers are diverse; Chinese, European, East Indian etc. were standing in line.