Best Exchange Rate API for Canada in 2026: 8 Compared for CAD Rates and Bank of Canada Data

Canadian businesses live next to the US dollar: suppliers bill in it, customers pay in it, and investments are held in it. A Canadian app needs a live CAD rate, and Canadian tax work needs the Bank of Canada rate for the day an amount arose. Those are different numbers from different places, and only some APIs give you both.

This comparison looks at eight exchange rate APIs from the point of view of a team in Canada. Free-tier limits and prices were read from each provider's own pricing page on 10 November 2026; they change often, so confirm before you commit.

What a team in Canada needs from an exchange rate API

• Live CAD pairs, especially USD/CAD, for pricing and checkout.
• Bank of Canada daily rates, the rate the CRA points to for converting foreign amounts.
• The rate by date for each transaction, and averages for income received through the year.
• Spreadsheet-friendly output for bookkeepers and accountants.

Quick comparison

The Canadian rates and what they are for

• Bank of Canada daily rates. One daily average rate per currency for 24 currencies, published once each business day by 16:30 ET. The Bank describes all of its exchange rates as indicative rates only.
• CRA guidance. In general, a foreign currency amount should be converted using the Bank of Canada exchange rate in effect on the day the amount arises. Another source is acceptable if it is widely available, verifiable, published by an independent provider, recognised by the market and used consistently from year to year.
• Averages. The CRA says an average of exchange rates over the relevant period may be used in certain circumstances; for a foreign pension received at different times during the year, it says to use the average annual rate.

The point for choosing an API: a market mid-rate and an official table are different products. A market rate is right for showing a customer a price. It is not the figure a tax form or an auditor asks for.

The eight providers

1. AllRatesToday

Best for: teams that need both kinds of rate. Mid-market rates for 160+ currencies refresh every 60 seconds on every plan, on any base currency, over HTTPS. The same key serves the official tables of 123 central banks and 6 tax authorities, each with the publisher's own date. For Canada that means: Bank of Canada daily rates (24 currencies). Output is JSON, CSV, XML or Excel from the same endpoints, with SDKs for JavaScript, Python, PHP, Go and Rust and an MCP server for AI agents. Paid plans start at €4.99 a month; dated tables and history are on paid plans.

2. Frankfurter

Best for: projects that only need official fixings and want them free. Frankfurter is open source, needs no key and has no monthly cap. It now aggregates 111 central banks and official sources. For Canada its source list covers: Bank of Canada. It serves official fixings, not a live market rate, and it is a free service with no paid tier or support contract.

3. ExchangeRate-API

Best for: dashboards and reports that need volume and can live with one update a day. The free plan gives 1,500 requests a month with daily updates; the Pro plan is $10 a month for 30,000 requests with hourly updates. Rates are a blended market figure, not a named institution's table.

4. Open Exchange Rates

Best for: teams that want a long-established vendor and work from a US dollar base. The free plan gives 1,000 requests a month with hourly updates on a USD base; other base currencies start with the $12 a month plan.

5. CurrencyAPI

Best for: small private projects. The free plan gives 300 requests a month with daily updates and is for private use only; paid plans start at $12.99 a month.

6. Fixer

Best for: teams already on the apilayer marketplace. The free plan gives 100 calls a month with hourly updates for non-commercial use, and base-currency switching is listed only on paid plans, which start at $14.99 a month.

7. currencylayer

Best for: the same apilayer stack with a dollar source. The free plan gives 100 calls a month with daily updates for non-commercial use; paid plans start at $14.99 a month.

8. XE Currency Data

Best for: banks and large companies that need a recognised vendor on an annual contract. There is a trial but no free plan; the entry plan is $599 a year for 10,000 requests a month with daily rates.

Try it for CAD

# live mid-market rate
curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/rates?source=USD&target=CAD" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

# Bank of Canada, latest table
curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/open/central-bank/boc"

# the Bank of Canada rate for a past date
curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/central-bank/boc/2026-06-30" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

The first call needs a free API key. The official table responses carry the table's own date, so you can show which publication a figure came from.

Which one should you pick?

FAQ

What is the best exchange rate API for Canada in 2026?

For live CAD rates plus Bank of Canada daily rates on one key, AllRatesToday. For Bank of Canada fixings free and without a key, Frankfurter. For the largest free quota of daily market rates, ExchangeRate-API.

Which exchange rate does the CRA accept?

The CRA says that in general a foreign currency amount should be converted using the Bank of Canada exchange rate in effect on the day the amount arises, and it accepts other sources that are widely available, verifiable, independent, market-recognised and used consistently.

When does the Bank of Canada publish exchange rates?

Once each business day by 16:30 Eastern Time, as a single daily average rate per currency.

Does the Bank of Canada have an API?

The Bank offers its own data service for its published series. Aggregators such as AllRatesToday and Frankfurter serve the same daily rates alongside other central banks in one format.