American visits to B.C. climbing steadily and it's not all about the money

The number of Americans coming across B.C.'s borderhas climbed steadily over the past five years, but when asked, not all Americans say it's to do with the exchange rate.

CBC News asked several U.S. citizens at the border and in Vancouver on Saturday what they thought of the exchange rate.

The loonie closed Friday at just under 77 cents U.S. But, many had no idea that their dollar carried so much more value north of the border.

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Instead, most Americans CBC spoke to said they came to Vancouver for their Memorial Day weekend because it was convenient and the people are nice in Canada. They came from states as far ranging as California, Oregon, New York and even Texas.

According to statistics from the Canada Border Services Agency, U.S. travellers across B.C.'s borders have increased steadily in number since 2012.

In April of that year there were closeto 156,000 visits while for April 2016, there were 226,000.

American visits to B.C. in April:

• 2013: 175,000.
• 2014: 184,000.
• 2015: 196,000.
• 2016: 226,000.

with files from Deborah Goble