Skip to content
Back to all claims
CurrencyMisleading

Alberta can simply keep using the Canadian dollar, with no downside.

Stated by: Commonly stated by Alberta independence advocates

Summary

A country can use another country's currency without permission, as Ecuador and Panama do with the US dollar. What it cannot do unilaterally is get a seat at the central bank, a voice in monetary policy, or a lender of last resort. When Quebec's Parti Quebecois proposed keeping the dollar, even its own leader conceded Canada's monetary policy would simply apply and a Bank of Canada seat was not guaranteed. So the claim that there is no downside is misleading: the trade-offs are real, even if their size is debated.

Evidence

Last reviewed: May 30, 2026