Canada Inflation Calculator: CAD from 1915 to 2022

The Canadian dollar has lost 96% its value since 1915

Updated: September 13, 2022

$100 in 1915 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $2,475.07 today, an increase of $2,375.07 over 107 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.04% per year between 1915 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 2,375.07%.

This means that today's prices are 24.75 times higher than average prices since 1915, according to Statistics Canada consumer price index. A dollar today only buys 4.040% of what it could buy back then.

The inflation rate in 1915 was 2.08%. The current inflation rate compared to last year is now 7.20%. If this number holds, $100 today will be equivalent in buying power to $107.20 next year.

Contents

Overview
Buying Power of $100
Formulas & How to Calculate
Data Source

⌃

Inflation from 1915 to 2022
Cumulative price change	2,375.07%
Average inflation rate	3.04%
Converted amount ($100 base)	$2,475.07
Price difference ($100 base)	$2,375.07
CPI in 1915	6.133
CPI in 2022	151.804
Inflation in 1915	2.08%
Inflation in 2022	7.20%
$100 in 1915	$2,475.07 in 2022

CAD inflation since 1915

Annual Rate, Statistics Canada CPI

Download

Buying power of $100 in 1915

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for $100 in 1915 (price index tracking began in 1914).

For example, if you started with $100, you would need to end with $2,475.07 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

Download

When $100 is equivalent to $2,475.07 over time, that means that the "real value" of a single Canadian dollar decreases over time. In other words, a dollar will pay for fewer items at the store.

This effect explains how inflation erodes the value of a dollar over time. By calculating the value in 1915 dollars, the chart below shows how $100 is worth less over 107 years.

Download

According to Statistics Canada, each of these CAD amounts below is equal in terms of what it could buy at the time:

Dollar inflation: 1915-2022
Year	Dollar Value	Inflation Rate
1915	$100.00	2.08%
1916	$108.97	8.97%
1917	$128.53	17.96%
1918	$145.38	13.11%
1919	$159.24	9.53%
1920	$185.19	16.30%
1921	$162.77	-12.11%
1922	$150.00	-7.85%
1923	$150.00	0.00%
1924	$147.15	-1.90%
1925	$148.91	1.20%
1926	$150.00	0.73%
1927	$147.83	-1.45%
1928	$148.91	0.74%
1929	$150.41	1.00%
1930	$148.91	-0.99%
1931	$134.24	-9.85%
1932	$121.60	-9.41%
1933	$116.30	-4.36%
1934	$117.66	1.17%
1935	$118.21	0.46%
1936	$120.65	2.07%
1937	$125.00	3.60%
1938	$125.68	0.54%
1939	$124.73	-0.76%
1940	$130.03	4.25%
1941	$137.77	5.96%
1942	$144.16	4.64%
1943	$147.28	2.17%
1944	$148.23	0.65%
1945	$149.18	0.64%
1946	$153.80	3.10%
1947	$167.66	9.01%
1948	$191.58	14.26%
1949	$198.23	3.48%
1950	$203.53	2.67%
1951	$225.00	10.55%
1952	$230.84	2.60%
1953	$228.53	-1.00%
1954	$230.03	0.65%
1955	$230.43	0.18%
1956	$233.56	1.36%
1957	$241.30	3.32%
1958	$247.01	2.36%
1959	$250.00	1.21%
1960	$253.40	1.36%
1961	$255.98	1.02%
1962	$258.70	1.06%
1963	$262.91	1.63%
1964	$267.93	1.91%
1965	$274.18	2.33%
1966	$284.65	3.82%
1967	$294.84	3.58%
1968	$306.79	4.06%
1969	$320.79	4.56%
1970	$331.52	3.35%
1971	$340.49	2.70%
1972	$357.47	4.99%
1973	$384.24	7.49%
1974	$426.49	11.00%
1975	$472.01	10.67%
1976	$507.61	7.54%
1977	$548.10	7.98%
1978	$597.28	8.97%
1979	$651.90	9.14%
1980	$717.93	10.13%
1981	$807.47	12.47%
1982	$894.43	10.77%
1983	$946.88	5.86%
1984	$987.64	4.30%
1985	$1,026.77	3.96%
1986	$1,069.84	4.19%
1987	$1,116.44	4.36%
1988	$1,161.41	4.03%
1989	$1,219.29	4.98%
1990	$1,277.58	4.78%
1991	$1,349.46	5.63%
1992	$1,369.57	1.49%
1993	$1,395.11	1.87%
1994	$1,397.42	0.17%
1995	$1,427.45	2.15%
1996	$1,449.86	1.57%
1997	$1,473.37	1.62%
1998	$1,488.04	1.00%
1999	$1,513.86	1.73%
2000	$1,555.03	2.72%
2001	$1,594.29	2.53%
2002	$1,630.30	2.26%
2003	$1,675.27	2.76%
2004	$1,706.39	1.86%
2005	$1,744.16	2.21%
2006	$1,779.08	2.00%
2007	$1,817.12	2.14%
2008	$1,860.19	2.37%
2009	$1,865.76	0.30%
2010	$1,898.91	1.78%
2011	$1,954.21	2.91%
2012	$1,983.83	1.52%
2013	$2,002.45	0.94%
2014	$2,040.62	1.91%
2015	$2,063.59	1.13%
2016	$2,093.07	1.43%
2017	$2,126.49	1.60%
2018	$2,174.73	2.27%
2019	$2,217.12	1.95%
2020	$2,233.02	0.72%
2021	$2,308.83	3.40%
2022	$2,475.07	7.20%*

* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.

Click to show 101 more rows

This conversion table shows various other 1915 amounts in today's dollars, based on the 2,375.07% change in prices:

Conversion: 1915 dollars today
Initial value	Equivalent value
$1 dollar in 1915	$24.75 dollars today
$5 dollars in 1915	$123.75 dollars today
$10 dollars in 1915	$247.51 dollars today
$50 dollars in 1915	$1,237.53 dollars today
$100 dollars in 1915	$2,475.07 dollars today
$500 dollars in 1915	$12,375.34 dollars today
$1,000 dollars in 1915	$24,750.67 dollars today
$5,000 dollars in 1915	$123,753.37 dollars today
$10,000 dollars in 1915	$247,506.74 dollars today
$50,000 dollars in 1915	$1,237,533.70 dollars today
$100,000 dollars in 1915	$2,475,067.39 dollars today
$500,000 dollars in 1915	$12,375,336.95 dollars today
$1,000,000 dollars in 1915	$24,750,673.91 dollars today

How to calculate inflation rate for $100 since 1915

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1915 and today:

CPI today CPI in 1915

1915 CAD value

Today's value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The Canadian CPI was 6.133333333 in the year 1915 and 151.8041332976 in 2022:

151.80413329766.133333333

$100

$2,475.07

$100 in 1915 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $2,475.07 in 2022.

To get the total inflation rate for the 107 years between 1915 and 2022, we use the following formula:

CPI in 2022 - CPI in 1915CPI in 1915

100

Cumulative inflation rate (107 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

151.8041332976 - 6.1333333336.133333333

100

2,375%

Data source & citation

Raw data for these calculations comes from the government of Canada's annual Consumer Price Index (CPI), established in 1914 and computed by Statistics Canada (StatCan).

You may use the following MLA citation for this page: “Canada Inflation Calculator: CAD from 1915 to 2022.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 2 Oct. 2022, https://www.officialdata.org/Canada-inflation.

Special thanks to QuickChart for their chart image API, which is used for chart downloads.

About the author

Ian Webster is an engineer and data expert based in San Mateo, California. He has worked for Google, NASA, and consulted for governments around the world on data pipelines and data analysis. Disappointed by the lack of clear resources on the impacts of inflation on economic indicators, Ian believes this website serves as a valuable public tool. Ian earned his degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College.

Email · LinkedIn · Twitter

Other resources:

Inflation from 1915 to 2022
Cumulative price change	2,375.07%
Average inflation rate	3.04%
Converted amount ($100 base)	$2,475.07
Price difference ($100 base)	$2,375.07
CPI in 1915	6.133
CPI in 2022	151.804
Inflation in 1915	2.08%
Inflation in 2022	7.20%
$100 in 1915	$2,475.07 in 2022