Converting American to Canadian

Question

Paid \$1012 American for a group of items, which worked out to \$1248.99 Canadian. How do I calculate the conversion rate so I can figure out the total cost Canadian of each item?

Answer 1

The conversion is linear, so if \$1012 American is worth \$1248.99, each American dollar is worth $\dfrac{1248.99}{1012}= 1.23418$ Canadian. Multiply any American dolar amount by that and you get the equivalent amount in Canadian dollars.

Answer 2

$\require{cancel}$Since the currencies are denominated using the same symbol, \$, I'll use the ISO 4217 currency codes USD and CAD.

We know from your receipt and bank statement (or whatever) that $$1012 \text{ USD} = 1248.99 \text{ CAD}.$$

To convert from USD to CAD, we must multiply an amount by the conversion factor in CAD/USD, which is $$\frac{1248.99 \text{ CAD}}{1012 \text{ USD}} \approx 1.234 \text{ CAD/USD},$$ which we can also write as $$\frac{1.234 \text{ CAD}}{1 \text{ USD}}.$$

So, for example, converting the cost of the 158.00 USD item mentioned in the comments gives that in CAD, it cost $$158.00 \text{ }\cancel{\text{USD}} \cdot \frac{1.234 \text{ CAD}}{1 \text{ }\cancel{\text{USD}}} = (158.00 \cdot 1.234) \text{ CAD} \approx 195.00 \text{ CAD}.$$