$100 in 1978 is worth $433.48 today

The Canadian dollar has lost 77% its value since 1978

Updated: March 12, 2024

$100 in 1978 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $433.48 today, an increase of $333.48 over 46 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.24% per year between 1978 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 333.48%.

This means that today's prices are 4.33 times as high as average prices since 1978, according to Statistics Canada consumer price index. A dollar today only buys 23.069% of what it could buy back then.

The inflation rate in 1978 was 8.97%. The current inflation rate compared to last year is now 1.15%. If this number holds, $100 today will be equivalent in buying power to $101.15 next year.


Inflation from 1978 to 2024
Cumulative price change333.48%
Average inflation rate3.24%
Converted amount
$100 base
$433.48
Price difference
$100 base
$333.48
CPI in 197836.633
CPI in 2024158.800
Inflation in 19788.97%
Inflation in 20241.15%
$100 in 1978$433.48 in 2024

CAD inflation since 1978
Annual Rate, Statistics Canada CPI
Download

Buying power of $100 in 1978

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for $100 in 1978 (price index tracking began in 1914).

For example, if you started with $100, you would need to end with $433.48 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

When $100 is equivalent to $433.48 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 1978 dollars, the chart below shows how $100 is worth less over 46 years.

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

Dollar inflation: 1978-2024
YearDollar ValueInflation Rate
1978$100.008.97%
1979$109.149.14%
1980$120.2010.13%
1981$135.1912.47%
1982$149.7510.77%
1983$158.535.86%
1984$165.354.30%
1985$171.913.96%
1986$179.124.19%
1987$186.924.36%
1988$194.454.03%
1989$204.144.98%
1990$213.904.78%
1991$225.935.63%
1992$229.301.49%
1993$233.581.87%
1994$233.960.17%
1995$238.992.15%
1996$242.741.57%
1997$246.681.62%
1998$249.141.00%
1999$253.461.73%
2000$260.352.72%
2001$266.922.53%
2002$272.952.26%
2003$280.482.76%
2004$285.691.86%
2005$292.022.21%
2006$297.862.00%
2007$304.232.14%
2008$311.442.37%
2009$312.370.30%
2010$317.931.78%
2011$327.182.91%
2012$332.141.52%
2013$335.260.94%
2014$341.651.91%
2015$345.501.13%
2016$350.431.43%
2017$356.031.60%
2018$364.102.27%
2019$371.201.95%
2020$373.860.72%
2021$386.563.40%
2022$412.856.80%
2023$428.573.81%
2024$433.481.15%*
* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.
Click to show 40 more rows

This conversion table shows various other 1978 amounts in today's dollars, based on the 333.48% change in prices:

Conversion: 1978 dollars today
Initial valueEquivalent value
$1 dollar in 1978$4.33 dollars today
$5 dollars in 1978$21.67 dollars today
$10 dollars in 1978$43.35 dollars today
$50 dollars in 1978$216.74 dollars today
$100 dollars in 1978$433.48 dollars today
$500 dollars in 1978$2,167.42 dollars today
$1,000 dollars in 1978$4,334.85 dollars today
$5,000 dollars in 1978$21,674.25 dollars today
$10,000 dollars in 1978$43,348.50 dollars today
$50,000 dollars in 1978$216,742.49 dollars today
$100,000 dollars in 1978$433,484.99 dollars today
$500,000 dollars in 1978$2,167,424.93 dollars today
$1,000,000 dollars in 1978$4,334,849.86 dollars today

How to calculate inflation rate for $100 since 1978

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1978 and today:

CPI today CPI in 1978
×
1978 CAD value
=
Today's value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The Canadian CPI was 36.63333333 in the year 1978 and 158.8 in 2024:

158.836.63333333
×
$100
=
$433.48

$100 in 1978 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $433.48 in 2024.

To get the total inflation rate for the 46 years between 1978 and 2024, we use the following formula:

CPI in 2024 - CPI in 1978CPI in 1978
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (46 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

158.8 - 36.6333333336.63333333
×
100
=
333%

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: “Value of 1978 Canadian dollars today | Canada Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 28 Mar. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/canada/inflation/1978?amount=&startYear=&future_pct=.

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

in2013dollars.com is a reference website maintained by the Official Data Foundation.


Ian Webster

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.

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Inflation from 1978 to 2024
Cumulative price change333.48%
Average inflation rate3.24%
Converted amount
$100 base
$433.48
Price difference
$100 base
$333.48
CPI in 197836.633
CPI in 2024158.800
Inflation in 19788.97%
Inflation in 20241.15%
$100 in 1978$433.48 in 2024