first, canada's economy is within its honey stage.. best of all time.. GDP grow at 2.5%, 2.8%.. last quarter reached 3.5%... employment at highest level... plus lots of demand from large immigrants (like toronto or alberta).. you will see housing price slow down but no severe correction..
in term of Canadian dollar.. there are two folds... Canadian dollar is largely energy currency becoz it is net energy exporter.. if oil price rose sharply, so is canadian dollar.. if you compare the graph of oil price and canadian dollar, you will see the corelationship... secondly, historically US gov tend to prefer strong currency to keep inflation low while enjoying healthy economic growth.. but tide shift within gov in recently year... gov turn blind eyes to weaker US$.. due to large trade deficit and budget deficit (Iraq war)... therefore ,what you see is a combination of both, stronger canadian dollar with a US gov who has more tolerance of weaker dollar..
in term of Canadian dollar.. there are two folds... Canadian dollar is largely energy currency becoz it is net energy exporter.. if oil price rose sharply, so is canadian dollar.. if you compare the graph of oil price and canadian dollar, you will see the corelationship... secondly, historically US gov tend to prefer strong currency to keep inflation low while enjoying healthy economic growth.. but tide shift within gov in recently year... gov turn blind eyes to weaker US$.. due to large trade deficit and budget deficit (Iraq war)... therefore ,what you see is a combination of both, stronger canadian dollar with a US gov who has more tolerance of weaker dollar..