There's a lot of money exchange offices (in French, they are called "Bureaux de change") downtown on Ste-Catherine street west near the Info-Tourism office near the corner of Peel. You can also change your money at banks and other financial institutions, they pretty much all have the same exchange rate and they all charge a certain fee for the exchange. There's a couple of web sites where you can get an exchange rate, like the Custom House Currency Exchange, Accu-Rate which give the Canadian exchange rate for every currency known on the planet or in Montreal, there's Universal Currency Exchange Inc.. For more information, check out the "Should you exchange your money before coming or once I'm there?" subsection of the "What you need to know and do before coming to Montreal" section.

Every bank or caisses populaires (credit unions) has an automatic teller machine connected to the System Plus, Cirrus Network and/or mostly to the Interac network. Most ATMs in the eastern part of the city (east of Bleury/Parc ave.) have on-screen menus in French only (although some change language depending on what language you ask the bank to be serviced in but I don't know if that works for foreign cards). The only French you'll need is : "entrez votre NIP" which means "enter your PIN", "retrait" which means "withdrawal", then enter the amount and press the "OK" button (or the "annuler" button which means "cancel") and if it asks "Une autre opération", then answer "Non". The exchange rate will automatically be computed if you are withdrawing from a foreign account.

Most stores and restaurants accept Visa and Mastercard, but American Express and other cards are not always accepted. So call ahead just in case.

You can also get travelers checks, you won't have problem exchanging them at banks or "bureaux de change" but not all stores accept them as payment.

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