Hi,
You can use credit / debit cards almost everywhere. Restaurant waiters also usually have wireless credit / debit terminals that they will bring to your table for you to settle your bill.
How much your bank charges depends on your Canadian bank and the banking plan you are on. For instance, on my plan through the Bank Of Montreal, I get (I think) 20 free transactions a month and then after that I'm charged $0.50CDN/piece. However, if I go to a Bank Of Montreal ATM and withdraw cash, there is no service fee for that.
There is no service fee for using *credit* cards, only *debit* cards tend to have the fee.
I live in a really rural area so I can't always get to a Bank Of Montreal machine for cash. So what I usually end up doing, is either pay by credit and then pay of the balance right away so I don't have to pay interest, or when I do use my bank card to pay for something, I ask if I can get cash back as well.
Yes, Canada converted to plastic notes a few years ago. We've also eliminated the penny. For cashless transactions, you pay the exact amount billed. If you're paying somebody in cash, it is rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cents. And for $1 or $2, instead of notes, we've moved over to coins.
I personally like the plastic notes. They're smoother and feel more durable than the paper notes. I've had one go through a laundry load by accident and it came out the other side fine.
- Tyler