Currency Futures Explained: CME FX Futures, the Canadian Dollar Contract, and Futures vs Spot Forex

A currency futures contract is an agreement to exchange a fixed amount of one currency for another on a set future date, at an exchange rate agreed today. CME Group lists the main exchange-traded currency futures, including the Canadian dollar contract (6C), which covers 100,000 Canadian dollars quoted in US dollars per Canadian dollar.

In short: CME’s Canadian Dollar futures (6C) are 100,000 CAD per contract, quoted in US dollars per Canadian dollar, with a minimum tick of $0.00005, worth $5.00 per contract. They are listed in the March, June, September and December cycle, stop trading on the business day before the third Wednesday of the contract month, and settle by physical delivery of the currencies. Unlike spot forex, which trades over the counter with a dealer, FX futures trade on an exchange, clear through a central clearing house, and are marked to market daily. Their price differs from spot by the interest rate difference between the two currencies.

The main CME FX futures

Specifications from CME’s FX Product Guide 2026 and rulebook chapters, as of November 2026.

Contract	Code	Contract size	Quote	Minimum tick	Tick value
Canadian dollar	6C	100,000 CAD	USD per CAD	0.00005	$5.00
Euro FX	6E	125,000 EUR	USD per EUR	0.00005	$6.25
Japanese yen	6J	12,500,000 JPY	USD per JPY	0.0000005	$6.25
British pound	6B	62,500 GBP	USD per GBP	0.0001	$6.25
Micro CAD/USD	MCD	10,000 CAD	USD per CAD	0.0001	$1.00

Two things stand out:

The quote is “American”. CME quotes most contracts as US dollars per unit of foreign currency. The interbank market usually quotes the Canadian dollar the other way round, as USD/CAD (Canadian dollars per US dollar). A 6C price of 0.7200 corresponds to a USD/CAD rate of about 1 / 0.7200 = 1.3889. If you are used to seeing “1.39,” the futures price will look upside down.
Micro contracts come in both directions. MCD is 10,000 Canadian dollars, quoted in USD per CAD, one tenth of 6C. CME also lists a separate Micro USD/CAD contract (M6C) that is 10,000 US dollars quoted in Canadian dollars per US dollar, with ticks worth C$1. Check which one you are looking at.

The 6C tick used to be 0.0001 ($10). CME halved it to 0.00005 starting with the September 2016 contract.

6C details

Months: the quarterly cycle of March, June, September and December.
Last trading day: the business day immediately before the third Wednesday of the contract month, at 9:16 a.m. CT. Most other CME FX futures stop two business days before the third Wednesday; the Canadian dollar is one day closer because USD/CAD spot settles one business day after trade, not two.
Delivery: physical, on the third Wednesday. The long pays US dollars and receives 100,000 Canadian dollars per contract through bank accounts set up for delivery. See physical vs cash settlement.
Hours: CME Globex, Sunday to Friday, 5:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT, with a daily 60-minute break, as of November 2026.

Worked example: 6C tick arithmetic

Prices are illustrative, not forecasts.

A Canadian exporter expects to receive US$720,000 in three months and wants to lock in how many Canadian dollars it will get. That is roughly equivalent to wanting to buy C$1,000,000 at 0.7200, so it buys 10 6C contracts at 0.7200. (Buying Canadian dollar futures is the same as selling US dollars forward.)

Three months later the Canadian dollar has strengthened, and 6C is at 0.7350.

Move: 0.7350 minus 0.7200 = 0.0150.
Ticks: 0.0150 / 0.00005 = 300 ticks.
Per contract: 300 x $5.00 = $1,500. (Check: 0.0150 x 100,000 = $1,500.)
Ten contracts: $15,000 gain on the futures.

The exporter’s US$720,000 now buys fewer Canadian dollars at the spot rate (US$720,000 / 0.7350 = about C$979,592, against C$1,000,000 at 0.7200). The futures gain of US$15,000, converted at 0.7350, is about C$20,408, which brings the total back close to C$1,000,000. That is the purpose of a hedge: it fixes the outcome. Had the Canadian dollar weakened, the futures would have lost money and the spot conversion would have been better. More on this in how hedging with futures works.

The same 0.0150 move on one MCD is 150 ticks x $1.00 = $150.

How FX futures are priced: interest rate parity

A currency future is not a forecast of where the exchange rate will be. Its price is set mainly by the spot rate and the difference between the two currencies’ interest rates. This is called covered interest rate parity.

Using simple interest, for a contract quoted in USD per CAD:

Futures = Spot x (1 + US rate x t) / (1 + Canadian rate x t)

where t is the time to delivery in years.

Illustrative example: spot is 0.7200 USD per CAD, US short-term rates are 4.0%, Canadian rates are 2.5%, and delivery is in a quarter of a year.

US side: 1 + 0.040 x 0.25 = 1.0100.
Canadian side: 1 + 0.025 x 0.25 = 1.00625.
Futures: 0.7200 x 1.0100 / 1.00625 = about 0.7227.

The futures price is above spot because US rates are higher in this example. If you could lock in a different futures price, you could borrow in one currency, lend in the other and earn a riskless profit, so arbitrage keeps the futures close to this level. As delivery approaches, t shrinks and futures converge on spot. The general version of this logic is in how futures prices are set.

Interest rate expectations therefore matter twice: they move the spot exchange rate, and they set the gap between spot and futures. See interest rate futures explained for the rate side.

Futures vs spot forex

Retail traders often meet currencies through spot forex accounts rather than futures. They are different products.

	CME FX futures	Retail spot forex
Where it trades	On an exchange, with a public order book	Over the counter, usually with the dealer as your counterparty
Contract size	Standardised (for example, 100,000 CAD)	Flexible lot sizes
Price	Includes the interest rate difference to the delivery date	Spot price; positions held overnight are rolled daily with a financing charge or credit
Counterparty	Clearing house, after novation	The dealer
Expiry	Fixed quarterly dates; roll or deliver	No expiry; daily rollover
US regulation	CFTC, NFA, exchange rules	CFTC and NFA rules for retail forex dealers, including leverage caps of 50 to 1 on major pairs and 20 to 1 on others
Canadian regulation	Exchange and CIRO rules for dealers	CIRO rules for dealers, plus provincial securities law
Transparency	Volume and open interest published	Prices and costs set by the dealer

Neither is “better.” Futures offer central clearing and a transparent price; spot forex offers flexible sizes. For how clearing reduces counterparty risk, see how clearing houses work.

Futures vs forwards

Most corporate currency hedging is done with bank forwards rather than futures. A forward can be for any amount and any date, which suits a company with a payment of exactly US$733,412 due on March 3. A futures contract comes in fixed sizes and dates, but is centrally cleared and settled daily, and anyone can see the price. The trade-offs are covered in futures vs forwards.

Who uses currency futures

Exporters and importers lock in exchange rates for future receipts and payments.
Investors with foreign assets hedge some of the currency exposure.
Banks and dealers manage FX books and arbitrage futures against forwards.
Speculators take views on exchange rates or rate differentials.

What moves currency futures

Central bank policy and rate expectations, the biggest single driver for most pairs.
Commodity prices. The Canadian dollar has historically been sensitive to oil prices because energy is a large Canadian export.
Trade flows and policy, including tariffs.
Risk appetite. Some currencies tend to strengthen in periods of stress, others weaken.
Economic data: employment, inflation, growth.

What can go wrong

Leverage. A 1% move in the Canadian dollar at 0.7200 is 0.0072, which is 144 ticks or $720 per 6C contract. Margin on a contract is a small fraction of its roughly $72,000 notional, so moderate moves can be large relative to the deposit.
Gaps around announcements. Rate decisions and data releases can move currencies sharply and skip past stop orders.
Delivery. 6C is physically delivered. Retail brokers generally require positions to be closed or rolled before the last trading day.
Quote confusion. Reading 6C as if it were USD/CAD gets the direction backwards.
Margin changes. CME adjusts FX margins as volatility changes. Check CME’s margin page and your broker for current requirements as of November 2026.

The takeaway

The CME Canadian dollar future is 100,000 CAD quoted in US dollars per Canadian dollar, and each 0.00005 tick is $5. It trades in the quarterly cycle, stops the business day before the third Wednesday, and delivers the actual currencies. FX futures prices equal spot adjusted for the interest rate gap, not a forecast. Compared with spot forex, futures add central clearing, fixed sizes and fixed dates.