It’s a little difficult to quickly find pre-1950 records. But it appears that the Canadian dollar was higher than the USD about half of the time between 1950 and 1977. Looks like the loonie was lower with expansions in US “free trade” until recently.
History of the Canadian dollar - CBC.ca
http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/map-history-dollar/
Which is the natural process of globalism in business. Trade imbalance beneficiaries were bound to eventually inflate (more jobs, production and real wealth per capita in those countries, etc.), causing their products to cost more to both them and Americans in the US. Net energy exporters like Canada will also increase with energy resources more in demand, and energy prices, rising.
It’s going to get more interesting, as yet more enormous numbers of people in other countries consume more oil (new drivers and users of many products).
In the early 60's the dollar was devalued to 92 1/2 cents US$. Known as the "Diefenbuck" for those of us old enough to remember. It has spent the last 50 years or so languishing under par, which is not so bad when you are trying to export manufactured goods to the USA.
Canada's prospects look good because the country is on track to balance its budget (you read that right)in the next two years. Compare that to the US (1-2 Trillion $ deficit), or China or any country in Europe.
Additionally, because we produce and export so much oil, the Canadian dollar is virtually a petro-currency. The dollar tracks the price of oil to a great extent.
As time goes on, and the economies of China and Europe decline (crumble?) you will see wealthy and even middle class foreign nationals investing in Canadian real estate. The Chinese, in particular, have been buying "bolt hole" condos in Vancouver and Toronto for a long time. You need Canadian dollars to buy Canadian real estate.
The banking sector is very stable. There has not been a major bank failure in Canada since 1923. The banks are recognized internationally as safe.
PM Harper is not a lawyer or even a "community organizer". He is an economist by training, a conservative one at that. The head of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney, was just appointed to head the FSB. The country is in very good hands.