Inflation adjustment factors for Canada, assuming settlement in January 2013
This table reports the appropriate inflation adjustments (as measured by the Canada consumer price index), for each year between January 1978, (the date of the “trilogy cases” of the Supreme Court of Canada), and January 2013 (the assumed settlement date).
These figures can be employed in two ways:
- Multiplication of the inflation adjustment figure for January 1978 (3.486), by $100,000, provides an estimate of the maximum amount allowed (at the assumed settlement date) for non-pecuniary damages – approximately $348,600.
- The inflation adjustment figures can also be used to determine the equivalent January 2013 value of a non-pecuniary damages award made in any year from 1978 to 2011. For example, if the courts awarded $75,000 non-pecuniary damages for a similar case in 1997, the equivalent value in January 2013 is approximately $101,475 (= 1.353 × $75,000).
To derive the figures in the above table we use Consumer Price Index (CPI) data obtained from Statistics Canada. The latest monthly figure used here is for November 2012. The figures for December 2012 and January 2013 are estimated by determining a constant monthly inflation rate that will lead to an assumed annual rate of two percent.