Inflation adjustment factors for Canada, assuming settlement in February 2012
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 February 2012 (the assumed settlement date).
These figures can be employed in two ways:
- Multiplication of the inflation adjustment figure for January 1978 (3.437), by $100,000, provides an estimate of the maximum amount allowed (at the assumed settlement date) for non-pecuniary damages – approximately $343,700.
- The inflation adjustment figures can also be used to determine the equivalent February 2012 value of a non-pecuniary damages award made in any year from 1978 to 2010. For example, if the courts awarded $75,000 non-pecuniary damages for a similar case in 1997, the equivalent value in February 2012 is approximately $100,050 (= 1.334 × $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 December 2011. The figures for January and February 2012 are estimated by determining a constant monthly inflation rate that will lead to an assumed annual rate of two percent.