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Brian Lipton, a 50-year-old financial planner from Bethesda, Md., figures he and his family have been to Canada between 10 and 15 times over the past decade to ski.

He's about to plan a couple of vacations for this winter, but says he'll be avoiding Whistler, B.C., and Mont Tremblant, Que., because of the soaring loonie and steep cross-border air fares. Instead, he'll head to Utah, Colorado or Montana.

“I always consider Canada, but I'm not even going to look at Whistler this year because I know it's going to be 30 per cent more expensive,” he said.

As the loonie rapidly jumps to record heights, workers in Canada's tourism industry are among those that might suffer, although they've been coping with the dollar's gradual rise for years.

“The fact of the matter is we've seen the numbers from the United States fall off over the course of the last three or four years,” said Anthony Pollard, president of the Hotel Association of Canada. “They can't really go too much further.”

Meanwhile, Caledon, Ont., resident Sue Armstrong and her two daughters, Carly, 12, and Samantha, 15, were shopping up a storm in Manhattan yesterday, picking up winter boots and jackets they might otherwise have bought in Canada.

“The girls and I are shopping for pretty much the whole four days,” Ms. Armstrong said on her cellphone from Macy's department store.

She's among the legions of Canadians who are taking advantage of the strong dollar to pick up bargains south of the border.

While the term “cross-border shopping” calls up images of a road trip to shopping malls and outlets over the border to load up on clothes or electronics, the strong currency has been pushing Canadians to buy everything from cars to condominiums to education in the United States.

“Car buying in the U.S. is becoming a popular topic for clients,” said Matthew Smith, who works at Expatriate Tax Services in Toronto.

“As well, there is a big interest in Florida real estate with the dollar being low and the real estate market correction.”

Canisius College, which is less than a 10-minute drive from the Peace Bridge border crossing, received 365 applications for the fall semester from Canadian graduates looking for a second degree. That's a 20-per-cent increase, said Margaret McCarthy, dean of school education and human services.

She believes much of that has to do with the Canadian dollar, which is making it cheaper for Canadian students to pay the $1,560 (U.S.) tuition fee for each course. Many of the students take five courses a semester, with the most popular programs for Canadians being childhood and adolescent education, Ms. McCarthy said.