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AUD/CAD explained: metals vs oil in one currency pair

Both Australia and Canada sell the world raw materials. But Australia digs up metals for Asia and Canada pumps oil for America. AUD/CAD is the gap between those two stories.

Market guide · 5-minute read · Updated 2026-10-21

At a glance

Pip math, as an example. C$10 per standard lot is about $7.14 if USD/CAD were at 1.40. A math example, not a forecast. The pip value calculator gives today's value.

What moves it

• Rate gaps. The RBA (8 meetings, 2:30 pm Sydney time, about 10:30 pm–12:30 am ET) against the Bank of Canada (8 decisions, 9:45 am ET).
• Who's buying. Australia's biggest customer is China. Canada's is the US. A strong China and a soft US tend to favour the Aussie; the reverse tends to favour the loonie.
• Metals vs oil. Iron ore drives a lot of Australia's exports. Oil drives a lot of Canada's. When one commodity rallies and the other doesn't, the pair can move.
• Jobs and inflation. Australian data lands in the US evening; Canadian data at 8:30 am ET.

Commodity vs commodity

Many people expect a pair of two commodity currencies to sit still. Sometimes it does: a broad "everything is rising" day can lift both and cancel out. But when global growth news splits, say China slows while US demand holds up, the two sides pull apart.

That's what makes AUD/CAD worth studying. It asks a narrow question: which side of the commodity world is doing better right now?

When it's busiest

Each home market wakes at a different end of the US day. Sydney's news arrives in the evening ET. Toronto's arrives in the morning ET. In between, the pair often drifts. Spreads are usually wider than on AUD/USD or USD/CAD.

Australia's clocks run opposite to North America's, so the RBA's ET time can shift by up to two hours over a year. The market hours tool does the math.

Its personality

• Often range-bound. Shared commodity exposure can keep it boxed in for long stretches.
• Moderate daily ranges compared with the pound and yen crosses.
• Breaks out on split news, like a surprise from one central bank but not the other.

Reading it with our method

1. Daily chart first. Mark the last places price turned around. Trend or range?
2. In a range, work the edges. In a trend, trade with it.
3. Body close only. Out-of-hours tails are common.
4. Size from the stop. The lot size calculator converts the C$ pip and keeps risk near 1%.

Common mistakes

• Assuming it can't move because both are commodity currencies.
• Trading the dead middle of the day, after Sydney and before Toronto, when spreads stay wide.
• Watching only oil, or only iron ore. It's the gap between them that counts.
• Holding through the RBA without checking the evening calendar.

Questions