I don't trade the looney, but I believe what you're describing -- fixed quotes, with a 50-pip spread, currently 1.1850 / 1.1900 -- is something that's true on IB every day, in the early evening, not just today. I've always taken that to mean simply that none of the 4 banks / liquidity providers is making a market in USD/CAD on IB at that time. Note also the minimum (25-30K) bid / ask size.