How our prices are set
The prices on Gold Rate in Canada are indicative spot prices for gold and silver in Canadian dollars per troy ounce. Every other figure on the site, from grams to karats, is calculated from those two numbers.
Sources
Spot prices come from one of two commercial market data feeds. The feeds take turns, and if one fails the other is tried:
The feed used for the current price is named next to it on every page. The US dollar to Canadian dollar rate comes from the Bank of Canada daily exchange rate, published once each business day. The Bank describes these rates as indicative. We use that rate only for the USD-to-CAD figure and the approximate US dollar price; the gold and silver prices themselves are quoted in Canadian dollars by the feed.
The charts are embedded from TradingView and are a separate data source. They can differ slightly from our price at any moment.
Update frequency
We check for a new price every 4 hours on weekdays, plus once after the Friday close. The time of the last successful update is shown in Eastern Time next to each price. Spot gold and silver trade around the clock from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon (Eastern Time) and pause over the weekend, so weekend prices are the Friday close. The Bank of Canada rate changes once per business day.
Checks before a price is published
- Each price must be a positive number in Canadian dollars per troy ounce.
- A new price that differs by more than 8% from the last published price is rejected, and the next feed is tried. Gold and silver rarely move that much in four hours, so a jump that large is more likely a data error.
- If no feed returns a valid price, the last confirmed price stays on the page and is marked as delayed.
The math
| Figure | Formula |
|---|---|
| Per gram | Price per troy ounce ÷ 31.1034768 |
| Per kilogram | Price per gram × 1,000 |
| Per tola | Price per gram × 11.6638 (the 180-grain tola) |
| Karat price per gram | Price per gram × (karat ÷ 24) |
| Approximate US dollar price | Canadian dollar price ÷ Bank of Canada USD/CAD rate |
24K is treated as 100% gold. Results are rounded to the cent for display only; calculations use the unrounded price.
What these prices are not
- They are not the LBMA Gold Price or LBMA Silver Price benchmarks, which are set at fixed times each day.
- They are not a dealer's buy or sell price. Dealers sell above spot and buy below it.
- They are not an offer to buy or sell, and not financial, tax or investment advice.
If you spot a price that looks wrong, please tell us through the contact page.