Currency & Forms of Payment

In Banff, most major credit cards are accepted. Travellers cheques are accepted at most businesses, so there is no need to cash them in at a bank and pay service charges. Canadian currency is the official currency, although most businesses will accept american cash as courtesy at a variable exchange rate.


Electrical Appliances



Goods and Services Tax (GST)

G.S.T. is a 7% federal tax applied to all purchases of goods and services. If you are a visitor to Canada you are entitled to a G.S.T. refund on all the goods that you take out of Canada. In order to qualify for a refund keep all your receipts, each receipt must have a minimum of $3.50 G.S.T. and the total of all purchases must be $200.00 or more. All receipts must be originals, no photocopies or credit card slips. You must also include either your original boarding pass or the actual ticket with your rebate claim.

Rebate claim forms are available from Freya's Currency Exchange in the Clock Tower Mall & Cascade Plaza.


Lost or Stolen Credit Cards

If you lose your credit card or they get stolen the Canadian phone numbers are as follows:

American Express:	1 800-668-2639
Mastercard:	1 800-307-7309
Visa:	1 800-336-8472

Communication

- Telephone
The area code for Banff is 403.

- - Public Telephones
Public Telephones in Banff are $ .35 per local call, if it is avoidable don't deposit coins for long distance calls. Most service oriented businesses and gift stores sell long distance phone cards which can be used from a public telephone by dialing a toll-free number.

- - Phone Cards
There are a wide variety of pre-paid long distance telephone cards available. These cards a generally sold in $5, $10, $20 cards and offer an amazingly low per minute rate. Most cards have a connection fee ranging from $.99 to $3.00 for the first minute of each call, make sure you look into the connection fees. There are cards with a higher per minute rate with no connection fee, these are good for short or uncertain calls where you may get an answering machine. Each card has certain countries that it's rates are lowest for. It is probably best if instead of just buying the first one you see, go to the store next door and see the per minute rate to the countries you are calling are better.

- - Hotel
Hotel telephones range in price per local call. For long distance calls it is advisable to purchase a pre-paid long distance telephone card. Most service oriented businesses and gift store sell long distance phone cards which can be used from a hotel telephone (for the price of a local call) by dialing a toll-free number.

- Internet/E-mail
- Mail
The postal code for Banff is T0L 0C0.

- - Postal Services
Stamps are available at the places listed below. For sending parcels and receiving mail the Banff post office is located at 204 Buffalo Street. Parcels can also be sent from the small postal outlet in the Cascade Plaza drug store.

- - Stamps
Stamps are sold in all the drug & grocery stores and most gift shops that have postcards. The post office in Banff is located at 204 Buffalo Street.


Time Zone

Alberta is in the Mountain Standard time (MST) zone, GMT -6.


Park Passes

You will need to purchase a park pass to visit the park. The cost on these passes range from $5.00 per day for a single adult to $70.00 for an annual group pass (up to 10 people). Park passes may be puchased at the park gates of the Banff information centre.