The Toronto Star has asked readers if the rise of the Canadian dollar from its all-time low of 62 cents US in early 2002 to 95 cents US has impacted the prices of goods they buy at stores. Many believe that prices have not dropped enough and Canadians are paying more than Americans for similar items and this view is now being shared by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty who wants businesses to pass along savings from the higher Canadian dollar.
Change is still quite slow, it took until yesterday for Microsoft to somewhat realign the price of the Xbox 360 in Canada to better match those in the United States. Previously the 20 GB Premium console was $399 US for Americans but was $499 Canadian in Canada, much more than the $440 or so a comparable exchange rate would give. Now with an across the board price cut the prices are $349 US and $399 Canadian. The later Canadian price works out to $380 with a 95 cent dollar.
BTW, lower price or not it probably is best to wait to buy a 20 GB Xbox 360 Premium. Rumours are that cooler 65nm CPU versions with HDMI out may be available later this month.
Update: HDMI confirmed in the wild. Now somebody needs to open their new console up to check for 65nm chips. :)