Canada is a commodity economy. While commodities were suffering as the poor step sister of branded items, Canadian exchange rates were relatively low and it was a nice place to produce things like hogs and export. A significant share (much larger than the U.S.) of canadian pork found its way to finishing houses, slaughterhouses and kitchen tables outside of Canada and all over the world.
When the rise in demand for the lowly commodities began to accelerate in the last few years, engendered by the steamrolling growth of China, India and emerging nations of the world, all of that changed. In order to buy Canadian lumber, minerals and oil, these nations have to demand the Canadian dollar to pay for them. This has resulted in a dramatic increase in its purchasing power especially relative to the U.S. dollar.
