If you think of our currency as Loonies instead of Dollars, it may be easier to see that there is really no loss in currency exchanges, except the administration costs.
There is no such thing as "a" exchange rate. If you go to xe.com you will see the "mid-market" rate which is used by banks for their multi-million exchanges. But it is also used for convenience on a retail level. For example, when I was calculating travel expense reports our practice was to use that rate for overseas purchases.
If you go to your bank, and the bank across the street, and your credit union, and a currency exchange store, you will get different rates, just as @marnotom! says above about his various credit cards.
If $175USD ($215 CDN) was the purchase price, the rest of the money over the purchase would be provincial tax and GST, shipping, and Canadian duty.
