Gold price per gram in Canada (CAD)

Grams matter in Canada in two places: the jewellery box and the small-bar shelf. A ring or chain is weighed in grams when you sell it, and the Royal Canadian Mint and refiners sell bars from a single gram upward. This page works only in grams, so you can check a quote from a jeweller, a gold-buying shop or a dealer.

How much is gold worth per gram by karat in Canada?

Karat tells you how many parts in 24 are gold. A 14K chain is 14 parts gold and 10 parts other metals such as silver, copper or zinc, which make it harder and change the colour. To get its gold value, multiply the pure-gold gram price by the karat divided by 24. The table does that live, and adds the price of 10 grams, which is about the weight of a heavier chain or a pair of men's rings.

Live melt value at spot, Loading. Melt value is the gold alone, before any buyer's deduction. 9K, the lowest gold mark allowed in Canada, is 37.5% gold: ... per gram.

What do Canadian gold stamps mean, and can you trust them?

Canada does not have a hallmarking office that tests every piece, as the UK does. Instead, the federal Precious Metals Marking Regulations set rules for anyone who chooses to stamp a quality mark. The points that affect per-gram value:

• How it can be written. Karats may appear as "K", "Kt.", "C", "Ct.", "karat" or "carat", or as a decimal such as 585. The words "gold", "or", "G" or "Au" can sit next to the mark.
• Minimum quality. No gold quality mark is allowed below 9 karats.
• How close it must be. Real gold content may fall short of the stamp by no more than 3 parts per thousand, or 7 parts where solder is used (15 parts for white gold of 18K or higher).
• Plated is not solid. "Gold filled" or "G.F." means a layer of at least 10K gold that makes up about one twentieth of the item's weight. "Gold plated" or "G.E.P." means a thin 10K plating. Neither is worth anything like the karat gram price; buyers usually value them at little or nothing.

Because the maker or importer applies the stamp, a buyer will test the metal before paying. For the full picture on pure gold, see what 24 karat gold means.

What are gram gold bars worth in Canada?

Bars from 1 g to 100 g let buyers spend a few hundred dollars instead of thousands. The Royal Canadian Mint's 10 g bar, for example, is 99.99% gold, measures 25.5 mm by 15.42 mm, is individually serialized and carries a micro-engraved maple leaf security mark, according to the Royal Canadian Mint. The table shows the gold inside each common size at today's price.

Spot-based gold value, not a dealer price, Loading. Compare every size on our gold bar sizes guide.

The catch with small bars is the premium, the amount a dealer adds above the gold value. Making, packaging and shipping a 1 g bar costs about as much as a 10 g bar, so that fixed cost is spread over far less gold. As a rule, the cost per gram of gold falls as the bar gets bigger. Before buying, divide the dealer's price by the gram weight and compare it with the 24K figure at the top of this page. Our guide to buying gold in Canada lists dealers to compare.

Should you think in grams or troy ounces?

Dealers quote coins and most bars per troy ounce, while jewellery buyers quote per gram, and a few older shops still use pennyweight (dwt). Mixing them up is the most common way sellers misjudge an offer. A troy ounce is 31.1035 g, heavier than the 28.35 g ounce on a kitchen scale, and a pennyweight is 1.555 g.

For larger bars see the gold price per kilo in CAD; for past movements see the gold price history in CAD.

What do Canadian gold buyers pay per gram?

No law fixes what a jeweller, pawnbroker or "cash for gold" shop must pay, and offers vary a great deal. They all work the same way, though: they start from the melt value in the karat table, then keep a share to cover testing, the refiner's fee, the time until the refiner pays them, and their own profit. The figure you are offered is that melt value times a percentage.

A worked example shows why the percentage matters more than the headline price. Take 10 g of 14K jewellery. Its gold is worth ... at today's spot price. A buyer paying 70% of melt would offer ..., while one paying 85% would offer .... The 70% and 85% figures are examples to show the arithmetic, not rates we found at any shop.

• Ask for a per-gram rate for each karat, then check it against the karat table. A quote "per piece" hides the percentage.
• Watch the weighing. Measurement Canada says a scale used to weigh gold at the point of purchase must be approved and inspected by Measurement Canada and built for precious metals. A scale labelled "not legal for trade" cannot be used.
• Separate karats. If 10K and 18K are weighed together and paid at the 10K rate, you lose money on the 18K.
• Stones and clasps are deducted. Gems, steel springs and solder are not gold, so expect the weight to be adjusted.

Bullion bars and coins are usually bought back far closer to spot than jewellery, because they need no testing or refining. Our page on how to sell gold in Canada compares the options.

Work out the melt value of mixed jewellery

For a single coin or bar, the gold value calculator is quicker.

Is there GST or HST on gold by the gram?

It depends on purity, not weight. The Excise Tax Act treats a bar, ingot, coin or wafer of gold refined to at least 99.5% as "precious metal", and a dealer's sale of it is exempt from GST/HST. So a 1 g or 100 g bar of 99.99% gold carries no sales tax.

That is one reason new jewellery costs far more per gram than its melt value: you pay for design, labour, the retailer's margin and GST/HST, none of which a buyer repays. Selling gold for a profit can also create a capital gain; the Canada gold tax guide explains how it is taxed.

This page is information, not financial advice. Gold prices go down as well as up.

Not financial advice. GoldVetted provides general information to help you compare options. It is not personal financial, tax or legal advice. Gold prices go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you pay. Check tax rules with the official source or a qualified adviser before you act.